SAN DIEGO, Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- For the third year in a row, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has been named the Most Intelligent Utility in the U.S. by IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility Magazine.

"We are fortunate to live in a community that embraces new technologies," said Jessie J. Knight, Jr., chairman and CEO of SDG&E.  "SDG&E made a commitment to develop a smarter grid to support our customers' desires for cleaner energy, and greater use of rooftop solar and electric vehicles.  These technologies require a smart grid so we must act now, we can't wait."  

Intelligent Utility Magazine's UtiliQ survey measures utilities' progress toward intelligent operation and the development of a smart grid.  UtiliQ rated 78 American utilities on operational efficiency, integration of renewables, smart-energy initiatives, demand response/energy efficiency programs and IT investments.

"The commitment to fully develop a smart grid is in SDG&E's DNA and evident in every part of our utility," said Knight.  "We must be forward-thinking about the development of a sustainable energy future, and we work every day to put that forward-thinking vision into action."

SDG&E was among the first utilities to file a detailed Smart Grid Deployment Plan.   This plan lays the foundation and lists smart grid technology projects the utility is already implementing, and how they will allocate energy resources more efficiently.  It also describes how the utility is deploying new technology to give customers a much greater level of control over their energy usage – like its recent completion of its smart meter deployment and the online tools available for customers to access the meter's energy usage and make changes to lower their consumption.

Many of SDG&E's successes in the smart grid space come as a result of partnering with organizations throughout the world and working together on what the future of the smart grid will look like.

"Our partnerships with groups like Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition, Gridwise Alliance, Smart City San Diego and Securing Our eCity help us to leverage synergies of the many different smart grid projects we are each working on and move those projects forward more quickly," said Knight.  

SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.5 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and more than 850,000 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 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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SOURCE San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)