Advance Auto Parts Revs Up for Energy Deregulation With Sempra Energy Solutions; Sempra Energy Solutions Helps Advance Auto Parts Integrate Recently Acquired Stores.

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 13, 1999--

Advance Auto Parts, one of the nation's largest automotive parts and accessories retail chains, has selected Sempra Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, to provide energy information and billing management services to 718 of its stores nationwide.

The one-year energy services agreement follows Advance Auto Parts' recent acquisition of Western Auto, a subsidiary of Sears, Roebuck & Co., last year. Through the acquisition, Advance Auto Parts added 590 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico that formerly operated under the Parts America and Western Auto names, bringing the total number of Advance Auto Parts stores to more than 1,700.

In the course of a year, Sempra Energy Solutions expects to save Advance Auto Parts more than two percent on its yearly costs for natural gas, electricity, water and sewer services.

Sempra Energy Solutions will employ Encharge(TM), an Internet-based bill analysis, payment and reporting service designed for commercial and retail customers with multiple sites throughout the nation. Encharge will play an instrumental role in the merger by providing Advance Auto Parts' senior management with a detailed analysis of the energy usage and costs at these new sites. This information will be critical as the retail chain develops a long-term energy strategy.

"As we integrate two national retail chain operations, we need to be armed with the knowledge that will allow us to make the smartest decisions about energy in the deregulating marketplace," said Troy Metz, corporate service manager for Advance Auto Parts. "To obtain such detailed information on our own would have required us to invest a tremendous amount of time and resources. Equally as important as the acquisition of information are the considerable savings we expect to achieve over the next year."

Sempra Energy Solutions will review invoices for 718 stores located in 37 states across the United States. These sites are served by approximately 600 different utilities. Advance Auto Parts will also have immediate access to each stores' energy data through Web Encharge(TM), a proprietary Internet site that is updated daily. The site allows energy managers to view their information at any time and develop customized reports.

"As Advance Auto Parts' energy partner, we will be supporting the company's rapid growth as it integrates new stores into its network and develops a long-term energy strategy," said Donald E. Felsinger, group president of unregulated affiliates for Sempra Energy. "Like many other retail industries, the auto parts business is extremely competitive and the innovative package of services Sempra Energy Solutions is providing Advance Auto Parts will help the company gain better control over its energy costs at hundreds of its outlets nationwide."

Sempra Energy Solutions currently serves more than 13,000 accounts in 47 states through Encharge and has achieved an average customer savings of two dollars for every dollar invested in the service. Based in Roanoke, Va., Advance Auto Parts is one of the nation's leading automotive parts and accessories retail chains with more than 1,700 stores across the nation.

Sempra Energy Solutions provides a broad suite of energy-related products and services in California and nationwide, targeting the consumer, commercial and industrial markets, as well as institutional energy users. The company also owns CES/Way International Inc., one of the largest energy-efficiency contracting companies in the nation. Sempra Energy Solutions is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.