Chairman, President and CEO

Pedro Cherry was named chairman and CEO in July 2025 with oversight of all aspects in providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy to more than 192,000 customers in southeast Mississippi. He came to Mississippi Power in March 2025 in the role of president.

Cherry has worked in the energy industry for 30 years and has been a part of the Southern Company system for nearly 25 years, including executive roles in electric and gas subsidiaries. Since August 2020, Cherry was president and CEO of Atlanta Gas Light and Chattanooga Gas, natural gas utilities that served approximately 1.8 million customers across two states.

He previously worked at Georgia Power as executive vice president of Customer Service and Operations, where he led a team of 5,500 employees that served 2.6 million customers. He was responsible for the company’s Customer Service, Power Delivery, Sales, Pricing and Planning, Regional External Affairs, Renewable Development and Corporate Services.

Prior to this role, Cherry was senior vice president of the Metro Atlanta Region, with responsibility for the company’s Operations, Sales, Customer Service, Economic and Community Development and External Affairs activities for 1.2 million customers across the area. He earlier held positions as vice president of Community and Economic Development and manager of the Metro West Region.

Cherry began his career with Southern Company in 1997 at Southern Energy Inc., the subsidiary that later became Mirant Corp., where he held positions of increasing responsibility, including chief financial officer of International Division, vice president of International Finance and vice president of Planning and Performance Management. He returned to Southern Company in 2006, serving as finance manager for Southern Generation/Southern Power and then as assistant to the chief financial officer of Southern Company.

He has been an active community leader, volunteering his time on numerous boards in the Atlanta area, including chairman of the Georgia Chamber in 2024. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Clubs Southeast Region and Synovus Bank.

Cherry holds a NACD Directorship Certification, a Diligent ESG Leadership Certification and is a CFA Charter holder. He is also a member of Auburn University’s Alumni Engineering Advisory Council.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and an MBA in operations management and finance from Auburn University. He is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, Leadership Georgia and the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute.

A native of Windsor, North Carolina, Cherry and his wife, Tomeka, have two children.