N@N

PG&E Named A Top Utility For Smart Grid Implementation

_{//business-finance.news-articles.net/content/201 .. a-top-utility-for-smart-grid-implementation.html}
^{Published in Business and Finance on Thursday, March 21st 2013 at 1:00 GMT by Market Wire}  

PG&E Named A Top Utility For Smart Grid Implementation -- SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

SAN FRANCISCO, March 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced that it was named a top utility for smart grid implementation by GreenTech Media and GTM Research, leading analysts of clean energy markets and technology.

This marks the second year in a row that PG&E received a North American Networked Utility Award. Awards will be presented to the top ten North American utilities for their smart grid deployment programs on March 20 at The Networked Grid Conference in West Lake Village, Calif.

"PG&E is pleased to be recognized for our work in the smart grid field, which is already showing benefits to customers," said Kevin Dasso , PG&E's senior director of technology and information strategy. "By building a smarter grid, we are improving reliability and providing customers with more ways to save energy and reduce their energy bills."

PG&E is rapidly deploying more remotely operated devices throughout its service area to isolate trouble spots and restore power more quickly. PG&E has also deployed 9.5 million SmartMeters™ and has more residential customers enrolled in a critical peak pricing program than any other North American utility. Critical peak pricing helps residential customers save money by conserving power during up to 15 days each summer, when energy may be in short supply.

North American Networked Utility Award winners are chosen by a GRM Research team of analysts who study the smart grid market, including market trends and vendor solutions.

"2012 marked a year in which smart grid infrastructure build out progressed rapidly in North America and GTM Research feels that the selected utilities have been visionaries in unlocking new value streams for both the utility internally as well as the customers they serve," said Smart Grid Analyst Zach Pollock , who helped lead the selection process.

For more information on PG&E's smart grid efforts, visit [ Smart Grid Benefits ].

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of [ PG&E Corporation ] (NYSE: [ PCG ]), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit [ http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/ ] and [ www.pgecurrents.com ].

SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company