Pedro Cherry

Pedro Cherry is president and CEO of Atlanta Gas Light and Chattanooga Gas. In this role, Cherry oversees all aspects of operations for the two southern region natural gas utilities, which serve approximately 1.6 million customers in two states. He also is a member of the Southern Company Gas Management Council and the board of directors of the Southern Company Gas Charitable Foundation.

Formerly executive vice president of Customer Service and Operations (CSO) for Georgia Power, Cherry led 5,000-plus employees in the CSO organization with responsibility for the company’s customer service efforts, power delivery, sales, pricing and planning, regional external affairs, renewable development and corporate services. Named to the role in February 2017, Cherry was responsible for operating and maintaining an electric system serving 2.6 million customers in all but four of Georgia’s 159 counties.

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 for South America and the Caribbean Region, 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.

In 2010, Cherry became Metro West Region manager for Georgia Power and was named vice president of community and economic development in 2012. Cherry also served as senior vice president of 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 metro Atlanta.

Before joining Southern Company, Cherry worked as an engineering and business analyst for Carolina Power and Light Corp.

Cherry earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and an MBA in operations management and finance from Auburn University. He is a member of the CFA Institute, 100 Black Men of Atlanta and Auburn’s Alumni Engineering Advisory Council. He is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, Leadership Georgia and the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Leadership Institute.

Cherry serves on the boards of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Tourism Foundation. In addition, he serves on the Clark Atlanta University Board of Trustees, Leadership Atlanta Board of Trustees, the advisory board of the North Georgia Division of Synovus and the Georgia Chamber board of governors.