Rio Hondo Director of Community Relations Russell Castaneda-Calleros (left) greeted fellow Chamber members John Peel, Concept 7 Adoption Agency, and Amy Catt, Interfaith Food Center, during Wake Up Whittier at the Rio Café. For more photos from the monthly breakfast turn to
Business Focus
Melanie Bickley, Whittier Brokers, Carolyn Reggio, CAPC, Inc., and Susan Miles, PDQ Rentals, welcomed outgoing president Sue Dean, Notary Signing Network, to the Chamber’s Past Presidents Club during the 99th Installation & Annual Meeting. For more photos from the luncheon
Connecting the business and residential communities.
page 6
APRIL 2013
see
A MONTHLY PUBLICATION OF THE WHITTIER AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
pages 10 & 11
VOL. 19 NO. 4
SoCalGas begins installing advanced meters; new technology will help customers better understand their energy usage
8158 Painter Avenue Whittier, CA 90602
Presort Std. US Postage PAID Whittier, CA Permit No. 1
Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) is upgrading its natural gas metering system by installing advanced meters throughout its service territory, including Whittier. The communications device will transmit hourly gas usage data from a customer ’s home or business, and SoCalGas will make the usage information available online for the customer the next business day.
The advanced meter device enables SoCalGas to more efficiently serve its customers and empower them with more information about their gas usage so they can make more informed decisions and better control their energy bills. With the additional information advanced meters provide, customers can better understand and manage gas use and costs, identify sudden usage spikes, obtain information on energy usage online, and have more privacy and security. With an advanced meter, gas usage will be measured just as it is today by a current meter and bills will continue to be based on a monthly read of natural gas usage. However, the utility will no longer need to come by a customer’s property each month to manually read a gas meter. Instead, the advanced meter communication device will turn on for a fraction of a second each day to automatically read and transmit gas usage information and send it directly to SoCalGas’ communication network. No personally-identifiable information will be transmitted, and gas usage information will be encrypted for added security for the customer. Overall, SoCalGas is planning to upgrade approximately six million natural gas meters with the communication device. Installations will take place throughout the
SoCalGas service territory through 2017. Currently, SoCalGas is installing the communication device on meters in Southeast Los Angeles County and is scheduled to begin installing these devices in Whittier this summer. SoCalGas will notify customers a few weeks prior to their advanced meter installation. The installations will take approximately 15 minutes to complete and will be performed by SoCalGas employees during normal business hours. In most cases, customers will not need to be present, and should not have an interruption to their natural gas service. For more information, customers can visit SoCalGas’ advanced meter website, www.socalgas.com/ advanced or by calling toll free at (800) 427-2200 or (800) 342-4545 in Spanish.
ADVERTISE HERE Monthly & Annual Advertising Contracts Available
About Southern California Gas Co. Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has been delivering clean, safe and reliable natural gas to its customers for more than 140 years. It is the nation’s largest natural gas distribution utility, providing service to 20.9 million consumers connected through nearly 5.8 million meters in more than 500 communities. T h e c o m p a n y ’s s e r v i c e t e r r i t o r y encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles throughout central and Southern California, from Visalia to the Mexican border. SoCalGas is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE).
FRONT PAGE STRIP FOR MORE INFO. CONTACT KATIE AT
(562) 698-9554