Diego

In a summer in which demand response has become a new mantra for the power industry, Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. announced Monday it has begun installing what it is calling its “first wave” of advanced electric meters in a field test that will go on for a number of months. The high-tech meters enable two-way communications between the utility and customers in their homes or businesses.

San Diego Gas and Electric Co. has expanded the number of customers potentially eligible for its low-income energy-saving programs to comply with changes in state income guidelines. The Sempra Energy utility calls its expanded program the “Energy Team” program, featuring various home energy-savings-improvement services. Energy Team offers income-qualified renters and homeowners no-cost services that include: door weather-stripping and caulking; ceiling insulation; low-flow showerheads; and energy-efficient refrigerators, along with other minor home repairs that can reduce energy use. Last year, more than 11,000 qualified customers received a variety of home-weatherization services, SDG&E said. New income guidelines established by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) were effective last June 1, permitting household incomes of $28,000 for one- and two-person households, up to a maximum of $54,300 annual incomes for households of six or more. For each household member above the six, another $6,900 of income can be added. The income levels were adjusted by the CPUC, effective June 1, to reflect changes in the federal poverty guidelines.

Reflecting its strong business ties to Mexico, San Diego-based Sempra Energy Friday named Luis Tellez, a business and high-ranking national government leader in Mexico City, to its board of directors, expanding the board’s number to 11 directors. Tellez, 47, is managing director of the Carlyle Group private investment firm’s Mexico City office. Prior to joining Carlyle, Tellez was an executive vice president with one of Mexico’s largest companies, DESC, SA de CV, and held several senior positions in the Mexican federal government. Tellez served as Mexico’s Secretary of Energy from 1997 to 2000, during which he led the restructuring of the Mexican electricity industry. It was Tellez’s efforts that opened up more opportunities for private investment in Mexico’s power industry, something that Sempra and other U.S.-based companies rushed to take advantage of. Tellez also served as chief of staff to former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. With a bachelor’s degree from the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, and an economics doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tellez has gained past interest in U.S. news media as a rising leader in Mexico.

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), which serves 3.4 million California consumers using 1.3 million electric meters and more than 825,000 natural gas meters, has filed an updated proposal to install advanced meters for all of its customers by 2010.

Following through on a trend that began several years ago, San Diego-based Sempra Energy announced Monday it agreed to sell its energy services group to Honeywell Building Solutions, a business unit of Honeywell. No terms were disclosed for the transaction that involved Sempra Generation, which said the deal should be completed “early in the second quarter of 2006.”

San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) unit announced Monday it will hold an open season for nonbinding bids for capacity in what could be up to a 1.5 Bcf/d expansion of the company’s Energia Costa Azul LNG receiving terminal now under construction.

Coming off record 2005 profits approaching a billion dollars, San Diego-based Sempra Energy is looking to solidify more of its high-profile natural gas projects in the weeks and months ahead with cash from some of its ongoing merchant electricity sector sales, according to CEO Donald Felsinger.

During a week in which February temperatures were in the 70s and 80s along California’s coast, Sempra Energy’s two California utilities, San Diego Gas and Electric Co. and Southern California Gas Co., on Thursday predicted lower-than-expected retail energy bills in the months ahead. On Friday, SoCalGas also announced that an additional 218,687 customers are eligible to get 20% rate discounts on their monthly natural gas bills.

Historic high fossil fuel commodity prices have prompted San Diego, CA-based Sempra Energy to consider selling or refinancing all of its Texas power generation assets, including two large coal-fired plants. With continued favorable market conditions, Sempra said it would complete the transactions next year. At stake are more than 2,000 MW and hundreds of millions of dollars.