SAN DIEGO, Nov. 18, 2010 – Last night, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) was recognized by PA Consulting Group (PA) as the recipient of the ReliabilityOne™ 2010 National Award for Outstanding Reliability Performance.  SDG&E was also the top winner of the ReliabilityOne™ award among Western U.S. electric utilities for the fifth year in a row.
 
        “It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized as a national leader for our reliability,” said David L. Geier, vice president of electric operations for SDG&E.  “This award really is an extraordinary team effort and belongs to our employees who go above and beyond ‘the call of duty’ on a daily basis to keep the lights on for our customers.”
 
        All utilities operating electric delivery networks in North America are eligible for consideration for the ReliabilityOne™ award.  There are a total of five regional awards including Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, Plains and Western region.
 
        The ReliabilityOne™ National Award is given to the ReliabilityOne™ regional award recipient that has demonstrated sustained leadership, innovation and achievement in the area of electric reliability.

        “SDG&E has set the industry bar for electric system reliability, implementation of exciting new technologies, and total commitment to the safe and effective restoration for customers," said Jeff Lewis, PA’s ReliabilityOne™ Program Director.  “As one of the top utilities in the country when it comes to keeping the lights on, this honor is well deserved.”

        The selection of provisional recipients is based primarily on system reliability statistics that measure the frequency and duration of customer outages.  After provisional recipients are selected, each company undergoes an on-site certification process, which provides an independent review of the policies, processes and systems used to collect, analyze and report a company’s reliability results.

        About PA Consulting Group
        PA Consulting Group is a leading management and IT consulting and technology firm. Independent and employee-owned, we operate globally in more than 30 countries and transform the performance of major organizations in both the private and public sectors.
 
        From initial idea generation and strategy development through to detailed implementation, we deliver significant and tangible results. We have outstanding technology development capability; a unique breadth of skills from strategy to performance improvement, from HR to IT; and strong expertise in communications, media and entertainment, defense, energy, financial services, government and public services, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation and logistics.

        About SDG&E
        SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 845,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties.  The utility’s area spans 4,100 square miles.  SDG&E is committed to creating ways to help our customers save energy and money every day.  SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.  

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