Cats

With incentives to ink a national contract later in the year,Sempra Energy Solutions has announced a “multi-million-dollar,one-year” energy services contract for the California operations ofPETCO Animal Supplies Inc., one of the leading national pet foodand supplies retailers with about $750 million in annual revenues(1997). Both Sempra and PETCO are headquartered in San Diego. Nationally, PETCO’s annual electricity bill alone exceeds $10million, according to Ken Moss, energy manager for the pet supplychain, which is rapidly expanding with new, larger(15,000-square-foot) retail outlets that now cover 36 states, withenergy coming from more than 100 different gas and electricdistribution utilities. Natural gas nationally accounts for about10% of the chain’s annual energy load. Water is a much smallerportion, Moss said.