SAN DIEGO, March 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) today announced that the utility exceeded the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) diverse spending goal for the seventh year in a row.

In 2012, SDG&E reported that 36.1 percent of products and services were provided by diverse business enterprises (DBEs). SDG&E spent a total of $435 million on purchases with women, minority, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses in 2012.

"For SDG&E, supplier diversity is not a program, but rather an integral part of our core business and an important part of our corporate vision that embraces and leverages the rich dimensions of diversity," said Jessie J. Knight, Jr., chairman and CEO for SDG&E. "We deliver better products and services to our customers by tapping into the diverse talents, skills and backgrounds of our suppliers."

Last year, SDG&E broke new ground as the first California utility to successfully execute three short-term wholesale power purchase agreements with a DBE supplier totaling 50 megawatts of power. SDG&E also signed a 20-year commitment to purchase 20 megawatts of renewable power from a Native American-owned solar developer in Imperial Valley. In addition, late last year SDG&E announced another long-term power purchase agreement totaling another 20 megawatts of renewable energy that involves a diverse business in the project development phase.

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 860,000 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 SDG&E