SAN DIEGO, Dec. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today announced that James H. Lambright will join the company as senior vice president of corporate development, effective Jan. 2, 2013.

In this newly created position, Lambright will direct Sempra Energy's investments, strategic partnerships and acquisitions.  He will report to Mark A. Snell, Sempra Energy's president.

"We are pleased that Jim Lambright is joining our senior management team," Snell said.  "His experience in the public and private sectors, as well as expertise in mergers and acquisitions, finance and energy, will help us accelerate our strategic plan for growth."          

Most recently, Lambright, 42, served as chief operating officer, chief financial officer, president-international and a member of the board of directors for Sapphire Energy, a San Diego-based biofuels development company. 

Previously, from 2006 to 2009, Lambright served as chairman and CEO of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, an independent government corporation based in Washington D.C., responsible for financing U.S. exports to more than 150 countries. Under Lambright's leadership, the bank became a self-financing institution operating without taxpayer funds.

While at the U.S. Export Bank, Lambright also was chief investment officer for the U.S. Treasury Department's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).  In this capacity, he chaired the investment committee responsible for committing the TARP funds, with the objectives of optimizing returns and preventing the collapse of the financial system.

Earlier in his career, Lambright served as a vice president of private equity for Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc., an investment banking firm that was acquired by Credit Suisse.

Lambright graduated cum laude with a law degree from Harvard Law School and holds a bachelor's degree in linguistics from Stanford University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  He is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and serves on the board of PeacePlayers International, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization.

Sempra Energy has four principal operating subsidiaries:  Southern California Gas Co., San Diego Gas & Electric, Sempra International and Sempra U.S. Gas & Power.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2011 revenues of $10 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 17,500 employees serve more than 31 million consumers worldwide.

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SOURCE Sempra Energy