SAN DIEGO, Feb. 9, 2006 – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is the title sponsor of the second annual National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) awareness dinner today.  The event is presented by the NSBE’s alumni organization and is designed to educate attendees about the society and its membership benefits. 

        SDG&E is involved with the NSBE as part of its ongoing efforts to recruit non-traditional and diverse individuals for its workforce.

        The dinner, which begins at 6 p.m. at SDG&E’s headquarters in San Diego, will feature motivational speaker Keith Goosby, a retired Naval officer who went on to work for the San Diego Chapter of the American Red Cross as the manager of community relations and outreach and the manager of the Armed Forces Emergency Call Center.  He currently works for the Commander, Navy Region Southwest, as a quality assurance representative for delivery of services to military members and their families in the southwestern United States.

        “SDG&E is proud of its record on diversity,” said Steven D. Davis, senior vice president of SDG&E’s external relations and chief financial officer.  “The NSBE event, and its potential to attract new engineers to our company, is an example of our commitment to hiring and retaining a diverse mix of individuals who reflect the communities in which we do business.”

        NSBE’s mission is to increase the number of culturally responsible African-American engineers who excel academically, succeed professionally and positively impact the community.  The organization has more than 270 chapters on college and university campuses, 75 Alumni Extension chapters nationwide and 75 Pre-College chapters.  More information on NSBE is available at www.nsbe-ae-sd.org.

        SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.3 million consumers through 1.3 million electric meters and more than 800,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties.  The utility’s area spans 4,100 square miles.  Exceptional customer service is a priority of SDG&E as it seeks to enhance the region’s quality of life.  SDG&E is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE).  Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company.  To learn more, go to www.sdge.com

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