The Georgia Power's Board of Directors has elected Xia Liu as executive vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer, effective October 1. In her new role, Liu will be responsible for overseeing the company's accounting and financial functions.

"Xia brings a depth of knowledge and diverse experience from serving in business units across the Southern Company system that will further strengthen our organization as we continue to modernize our business to best meet the changing needs of our customers," said Chairman, President and CEO Paul Bowers.

Liu began her career at Southern Company in 1998 and has served in nearly a dozen roles with increasing responsibility, including senior vice president of finance for Southern Company Services and treasurer for Southern Company, vice president of finance for Southern Company Services and assistant treasurer for Southern Company, director of financial and corporate planning and assistant treasurer for Alabama Power, fuels environmental and compliance manager for Southern Generation, and others.

Most recently, Liu served as vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer for Gulf Power where she was responsible for overall accounting, financial planning and analysis, budgeting, treasury, internal controls, regulatory, rates and pricing, and forecasting functions.

Liu earned a bachelor's degree and master's degree in finance from Renmin University of China and a master's degree in business administration from Emory University. She is a chartered financial analyst and has completed two years in the economics Ph.D. program at Emory University. Additionally, Liu is also an International Woman's Forum Leadership Foundation fellow and has attended executive programs at Harvard University and INSEAD School of France.