Sempra Energy Solutions Awarded $46.5 Million in Federal Contracts

Four Contracts Cover Military Hospitals, Air Force Base SAN DIEGO, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sempra Energy Solutions, the retail energy marketing arm of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE - News), today announced the company has been awarded four independent energy services contracts with federal government facilities: Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS), in San Diego; the Veterans Integrated Service Network 8 (VISN8) in Florida and Puerto Rico; Evans Army Hospital in Fort Carson, Colo., and Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah. "Sempra Energy Solutions has a long history of partnering with governmental clients to create energy strategies tailored to their specific objectives, requirements and budget," said Erbin Keith, president, Sempra Energy Solutions. "We have a team dedicated to servicing federal facilities and we hold competitively awarded regional contracts that allow our federal customers to move forward." The largest of the new contracts is the 10-year, $17.9 million VASDHS project. It will replace an existing cogeneration system with one that is 40 percent more efficient than purchasing from the electrical grid, saving more than $19.3 million over the duration of the contract. A new compressed air system will increase reliability for medical and dental facilities at the 1 million square-foot hospital. The VISN8 contract is another veterans medical center-related project. This agreement involves a network of seven hospitals, six in Florida and one in Puerto Rico. Sempra Energy Solutions added a new 15-year contract to an existing long-term agreement for energy conservation measures at all seven facilities. The new $12 million contract will cover lighting retrofits, cooling tower additions, water-saving equipment and heating, as well as ventilation and air-conditioning upgrades at four facilities in West Palm Beach, Bay Pines, Orlando and Gainesville. A third military medical facility agreement involves the Evans Army Community Hospital in Fort Carson. Under terms of the 20-year, $11 million agreement, custom-designed high-temperature hot-water generators will be moved to a site closer to the hospital and housed in a new insulated building to minimize heat lost in transmission. These measures will save the hospital $12.7 million. The fourth new federal contract follows a successful, $20 million, seven- year energy-conservation program Sempra Energy Solutions recently completed for Hill Air Force Base in Ogden. The new, 20-year contract is the first successful contract award utilizing the Department of Energy Super Energy Savings Performance Contract program for an Air Force installation. Setting the example for other Air Force installations to follow the $5.66 million contract will involve lighting retrofits and installing infrared heaters. Total savings to the base will exceed $5.8 million. Sempra Energy Solutions -- a subsidiary of Sempra Energy Global Enterprises, the umbrella for Sempra Energy's growth businesses -- offers commercial and industrial businesses outsourcing services that help them drive efficiencies in the ever-changing energy environment. Sempra Energy Solutions, whose parent company maintains solid investment-grade credit ratings, provides its customers with an integrated mix of services. These services include facility management, supply and price-risk management, energy efficiency, energy-asset management, infrastructure ownership, and information and billing services. Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2002 revenues of $6 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 12,000 employees serve more than 9 million customers in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, South America and Asia. Sempra Energy Solutions is not the same company as the utility, SDG&E or SoCalGas, and Sempra Energy Solutions is not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.