James Kerr, II Biography and Net Worth

Jim Kerr is executive vice president, chief legal officer and chief compliance officer for
Atlanta-based Southern Company, one of America’s largest energy providers. As the
senior legal officer of the company, he leads the Office of the General Counsel, which
includes the company’s legal, corporate governance, audit and compliance functions.
He also co-chairs Southern Company’s internal business assurance council and serves in other risk management roles.
In his position as chief of staff, Kerr helps Southern Company chairman, president and CEO Tom Fanning with the
fulfillment of his strategic priorities with the board of directors, the management council and officers across the system.
Before joining Southern Company, Kerr was a partner at McGuireWoods LLP and senior advisor at McGuireWoods
Consulting LLC. While there, he demonstrated his deep knowledge of federal and state energy policy and regulations
as he represented utilities in base rate, fuel case and facility certification proceedings.
Kerr was a member of the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which regulates the rates and services of all
public utilities in the state, for eight years. He served as president of the National Association of Regulatory
Utility Commissioners from 2007 to 2008 and president of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners from 2002 to 2003.
Kerr’s years of experience in the energy regulatory arena specifically include representing natural gas, vertically
integrated electric and transmission-only utilities in obtaining state and federal approvals of mergers, acquisitions and
divestitures; representing electric utilities in base rate, fuel clause, complaint investigation and facility certification
proceedings before state utility commissions; developing and implementing state legislation involving utility
regulation, transmission and generation siting and development, installation and cost recovery of environmental
controls and renewable portfolio standards and goals; and direct involvement in adopting and implementing federal
legislation and policy. During his tenure at Southern Company, he has helped direct the successful execution and
regulatory approval of a number of M&A transactions including the merger with AGL Resources, acquisition of
PowerSecure, and divestitures for the company.
Kerr’s involvement in the community includes serving on the Georgia Aquarium board of directors, and actively
supporting the literacy organization Page Turners Make Great Learners as well as other community legal
organizations such as the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta. He also
serves on the board of visitors for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as the board of visitors
for the university’s Institute for the Environment.
He earned a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Washington and Lee University and a juris doctorate degree, with
honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Kerr and his wife, Frances, have two children.