Sempra takes annual meeting to London

San Diego Utility Sempra is taking its shareholders across the pond for this year's annual meeting:

Some local shareholders of Sempra Energy – parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric – have in the past complained about needing to travel past the county line to attend the company's annual meetings.

This year, those reluctant travelers may really have something to complain about when the San Diego-based company holds its annual shareholders meeting next month in London.

Doug Kline, a company spokesman, said the city was chosen to allow the board of directors to review European operations, to provide access for foreign investors and to raise the profile of the company, whose subsidiaries include Southern California Gas, as well as San Diego Gas & Electric.

Of course, choosing London for the meeting is also a convenient way to avoid all the environmentalists, surfers and others protesting their site selection for an LNG project across the border in Mexico.