SAN DIEGO, Sept. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today announced that Jessie J. Knight, Jr., executive vice president of external affairs for Sempra Energy and chairman of Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), plans to retire Nov. 1.  Steven D. Davis, currently president and chief operating officer of SDG&E, has been elected to succeed Knight as executive vice president of external affairs and corporate strategy for Sempra Energy, effective Sept. 26.

In his new role, Davis, 59, will report directly to Debra L. Reed, chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy, and oversee all of Sempra Energy's communications, government relations, regulatory and international affairs activities, as well as corporate social responsibility and long-term strategy review.  Once Davis' new appointment is effective, Knight, 64, will continue on as a Sempra Energy executive vice president and chairman of the two California utilities until his retirement. 

"We are pleased to add Steve Davis to our senior executive team," Reed said.  "In his 35-year career with the Sempra Energy family of companies, Steve has managed nearly every aspect of our business. For much of that time, he has played a pivotal role in our successful external affairs strategy to engage key stakeholders.

"We also wish Jessie Knight well in his retirement, after a long and distinguished career in both the private and public sectors.  He has made an extremely positive impact on our company and industry, as well as the San Diego community."

Davis has served as president and chief operating officer of SDG&E since January 2014.  Previously, from 2012 to 2014, he was Sempra Energy's senior vice president of external affairs.  Prior to that, he was Sempra Energy's vice president of investor relations and corporate communications and, from 2006 to 2010, Sempra Energy's vice president of communications and community partnerships. 

Previously, Davis served as senior vice president of external relations and chief financial officer for SDG&E and SoCalGas from 2004 to 2006. Prior to that, he was senior vice president of customer service and external relations for SDG&E and SoCalGas and vice president of distribution operations for SDG&E.

Davis first joined SDG&E in 1980 as an associate accountant and then served in a series of increasingly responsible positions in accounting and regulatory, governmental, community and environmental affairs.

Davis is a board member of the Western Energy Institute and also serves on the board of the California Chamber of Commerce.      

He has a bachelor's degree in business administration from San Diego State University, where he graduated with honors.

Knight has been Sempra Energy's executive vice president of external affairs and SDG&E's chairman since January 2014.  He became chairman of SoCalGas in March 2014.  Previously, Knight was CEO of SDG&E from 2010 to 2014.  He joined Sempra Energy in 2006 as executive vice president of external affairs.

From 1999 to 2006, Knight was president and CEO of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. From 1993 to 1999, Knight served as commissioner for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), after being appointed by then-Gov. Pete Wilson. Prior to his appointment as a CPUC commissioner, Knight was employed as executive vice president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

From 1985 to 1992, Knight was vice president of marketing for the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner newspapers. He began his corporate career in 1975 with Dole Food Company Inc., where he worked 10 years in both domestic and international operations.

Knight is a board member of the Seattle-based Alaska Air Group and Alaska Airlines, life member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and member of the corporate council of the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.  He also is a trustee of the UC San Diego Foundation. For Sempra Energy, he serves on the boards of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Energy Institute and the Inter-American Dialogue.

Knight has a bachelor's degree from St. Louis University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2014 revenues of $11 billion.  The Sempra Energy companies' 17,000 employees serve more than 32 million consumers worldwide.

This press release contains statements that are not historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These statements can be identified by words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates,"  "projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "depends," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "potential," "possible,"  "proposed,"  "target," "pursue," "goals," "outlook," "maintain" or similar expressions, or discussions of guidance, strategies, plans, goals, opportunities, projections, initiatives, objectives or intentions.  Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance.  They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions.  Future results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including, among others: local, regional, national and international economic, competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments; actions and the timing of actions, including issuances of permits to construct and licenses for operation, by the California Public Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, California Energy Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and other regulatory, governmental and environmental bodies in the United States and other countries in which we operate; the timing and success of business development efforts and construction, maintenance and capital projects, including risks in obtaining, maintaining or extending permits, licenses, certificates and other authorizations on a timely basis and risks in obtaining adequate and competitive financing for such projects; energy markets, including the timing and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices, and the impact of any protracted reduction in oil prices from historical averages; the impact on the value of our natural gas storage assets from low natural gas prices, low volatility of natural gas prices and the inability to procure favorable long-term contracts for natural gas storage services; delays in the timing of costs incurred and the timing of the regulatory agency authorization to recover such costs in rates from customers; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and ratepayers; capital markets conditions, including the availability of credit and the liquidity of our investments; inflation, interest and currency exchange rates; the impact of benchmark interest rates, generally Moody's A-rated utility bond yields, on our California Utilities' cost of capital; the availability of electric power, natural gas and liquefied natural gas, and natural gas pipeline and storage capacity, including disruptions caused by failures in the North American transmission grid, pipeline explosions and equipment failures and the decommissioning of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS); cybersecurity threats to the energy grid, natural gas storage and pipeline infrastructure, the information and systems used to operate our businesses and the confidentiality of our proprietary information and the personal information of our customers, terrorist attacks that threaten system operations and critical infrastructure, and wars; the ability to win competitively bid infrastructure projects against a number of strong competitors willing to aggressively bid for these projects; weather conditions, conservation efforts, natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, and other events that may disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, and subject us to third-party liability for property damage or personal injuries; risks that our partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill their contractual commitments; risks posed by decisions and actions of third parties who control the operations of investments in which we do not have a controlling interest; risks inherent with nuclear power facilities and radioactive materials storage, including the catastrophic release of such materials, the disallowance of the recovery of the investment in, or operating costs of, the nuclear facility due to an extended outage and facility closure, and increased regulatory oversight, including motions to modify settlements; business, regulatory, environmental and legal decisions and requirements; expropriation of assets by foreign governments and title and other property disputes; the impact on reliability of San Diego Gas & Electric Company's (SDG&E) electric transmission and distribution system due to increased amount and variability of power supply from renewable energy sources; the impact on competitive customer rates of the growth in distributed and local power generation and the corresponding decrease in demand for power delivered through SDG&E's electric transmission and distribution system; the inability or determination not to enter into long-term supply and sales agreements or long-term firm capacity agreements due to insufficient market interest, unattractive pricing or other factors; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control.  These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that Sempra Energy has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on the company's website at www.sempra.com.

Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forecasts or projections or other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Sempra International, LLC, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, LLC, and Sempra Partners, LP, are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and Sempra International, LLC, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, LLC, and Sempra Partners, LP, are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. Sempra International's underlying entities include Sempra Mexico and Sempra South American Utilities. Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's underlying entities include Sempra Renewables and Sempra Natural Gas.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150911/265872 
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150911/265873
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110108/SEMPRAENERGYLOGO

SOURCE Sempra Energy