SAN DIEGO, Feb. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) was nationally recognized today with the Organizational Leadership Award at the inaugural Climate Leadership Awards in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The Climate Leadership Awards recognize organizations that go beyond business as usual in the management and reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are presented by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) (formerly the Pew Center on Global Climate Change), and The Climate Registry (TCR).

The Organizational Leadership Award was presented to SDG&E for exemplifying leadership in its internal response to climate change and effective outreach to engage its customers, community stakeholders, partners, and supply chain in high-impact energy efficiency and carbon-reduction initiatives.

SDG&E is receiving the award tonight at the Climate Leadership Conference held in Florida. "At SDG&E, environmental stewardship is an essential part of our business, and we embrace our role in the region collaborating with our stakeholders and helping our customers to reach their stewardship goals, too," said Pamela J. Fair, SDG&E vice president of environmental and support services and chief environmental officer. "In the past decade, we have gone beyond the basic requirements of regulatory compliance to make environmental stewardship part of our culture. We have collaborated with our environmental stakeholders in new ways, adopted exciting renewable energy targets, and opened an Energy Innovation Center to teach people about the latest green technologies as well as energy-efficiency and climate change programs."

"I commend SDG&E on its exemplary leadership in cutting carbon pollution that harms our climate and threatens our health," said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation. "SDG&E and all of our Climate Leadership Award winners demonstrate that organizations who are taking action to mitigate climate change are also operating more efficiently, more innovatively, and more competitively."

SDG&E's goals related to environmental stewardship are focused on climate change and energy efficiency, biodiversity and natural resources, and operations life cycle issues, including procurement, waste reduction and recycling. SDG&E supports the goal of reducing greenhouse gases through energy efficiency and customer programs, its corporate culture and internal programs, environmental mitigation activities, renewable energy, and community collaborations and innovation.

Named the "Most Intelligent Utility in the U.S." by IDC Energy Insights and Intelligent Utility Magazine for the last three years, SDG&E was recognized for its excellence in operational efficiency, integration of renewables, smart-energy initiatives, demand response/energy efficiency programs and IT investments.  For six years running, SDG&E has earned "Best in the West" for electric reliability from PA Consulting Group, an award that recognizes industry-leading performance in electric delivery networks.

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 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