LOS ANGELES, March 24, 2008 – Among natural gas utilities in the Western United States, Southern California Gas Co. (“The Gas Company”) has earned the top satisfaction ranking from business customers, as well as the highest score in the nation, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Gas Utility Business Customer Satisfaction StudySM.

        The annual study evaluates satisfaction among more than 5,800 business customers of U.S. natural gas utilities. Customers surveyed rate their satisfaction in six areas: billing and payment; communications; company image; customer service; field service; and price.

This is the second consecutive year in which The Gas Company has earned the top ranking in the Western United States for business customer satisfaction, and this year, the utility scored highest nationwide.

The Gas Company provides assistance to customers to reduce their consumption and costs through energy-efficiency programs.

According to J.D. Power and Associates, utilities that educate customers regarding energy-efficiency and rebate programs tend to have more highly satisfied customers, particularly when it comes to price.

The Gas Company spends millions of dollars each year on financial incentives and technical assistance to help its customers control their usage and lower their bills. Over the past 15 years, The Gas Company programs have helped customers save enough natural gas to supply more than 415,000 homes for a year.

 “We are proud of this recognition for our customer service,” said Debra L. Reed, president and chief executive officer of The Gas Company.  “We place the highest priority on customer satisfaction and the J.D. Power and Associates study results show that our employees have done an outstanding job delivering on the objective of meeting our customers’ needs.”

This is the third year J.D. Power and Associates has tracked gas utility business customer satisfaction.  For more information on this study, visit JDPower.com.

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services firm operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction.  The firm’s quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually.  For more information on boat ratings, car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

The Gas Company is the nation’s largest natural gas distribution utility, providing safe and reliable energy to 20.3 million consumers through 5.7 million meters.  The Gas Company is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.

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