Sempra Dodges Shareholder Questions in London

Rather than hold its meeting in California, where it might face protests from ratepayers and environmentalists, San Diego-based Utility Sempra went to London, where it avoided the scrutiny of shareholders and local activists:

Sempra Energy traveled 6,000 miles for an annual meeting that included one shareholder question, not many more actual shareholders and a total elapsed time of 30 minutes.

Shifting from its customary meeting sites in Southern California to the tony Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park Hotel in London, Sempra – the parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric – said it hoped to raise its profile in Europe.

In fact, a spokesman for the San Diego company noted that two of Sempra's largest shareholders are based in this financial capital.

But Barclays Global Investors, one of the company's large London-based shareholders, did not attend yesterday's session. And UBS Asset Management, Sempra's other large London-based shareholder, also seemed to be absent, although a spokesman said the company wouldn't comment on whether it attended.

The Union-Trib writers must have gotten a 500-mile minimum segment connecting in LAX, because according to WebFlyer, SAN-LHR is only 5470 miles.