SDG&E Systems Pass 9/9/99 Test for Y2K.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 1999--

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has completed another successful dress rehearsal for the rollover to Jan. 1, 2000, operating without any glitches into the 9/9/99 date.

SDG&E joined more than 400 other electric utilities throughout the United States and Canada in a Year 2000 (Y2K) drill over the past two days, as clocks rolled past midnight into Thursday, Sept. 9. This date had potential for system problems, because a series of 9s for the date 9/9/99 was, at one time, used by programmers as a "stop" command for many computer programs.

"On a scale of one to 10, the results of this drill rank a perfect 10," said Edwin A. Guiles, president of SDG&E. "All of our computer systems continued to operate smoothly as the clock rolled over to today's date. SDG&E's test of backup communications systems during the Y2K drill also was a complete success."

The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) sponsored the nationwide drill, which began yesterday and ended today at 6 a.m. PDT. NERC is an electricity industry group that sets reliability standards for interconnected electric transmission systems.

Employees at SDG&E's Mission Control, which operates like an air-traffic control center for the flow of electricity in San Diego and southern Orange Counties, took part in the drill. It tested backup communications systems that support the transmission of electricity.

Earlier this year, SDG&E's systems tested successfully for handling today's date. This morning, SDG&E employees again monitored systems, watching for unexpected problems, and none took place.

"We had no problems at all with the 9/9/99 date," said Guiles. "SDG&E began its Y2K program three years ago. Since then, we have assessed more than 500 systems, determined what changes were needed and made those changes."

Guiles said that, on July 1, 1999, SDG&E reached a key milestone. "All our critical systems involved with energy delivery, safety and keeping the business running smoothly are now Y2K ready," he said.

SDG&E will continue Y2K tests through the end of the year.

"Because of our extensive Y2K program, we don't expect any major problems when the new year arrives," said Steve Malowney, Y2K program manager for SDG&E and its parent company, Sempra Energy. "And with contingency plans in place, we're prepared to respond quickly if any Y2K-related problems do occur."

Additional details on SDG&E's Y2K readiness efforts are available on its Web site, www.sdge/y2k.com or by calling a toll-free number: 1-800-411-SDGE (7343). A report on the NERC drill is available at that organization's Web site, www.nerc.com.

San Diego Gas & Electric is a public utility that provides service to 3 million consumers through 1.2 million electric meters and 720,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange Counties. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE), a Fortune 500 energy-services holding company based in San Diego, with 12,000 employees, revenues of $5.5 billion and more than 8.5 million customers in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico and South America.