

SoCalGas Awarded Reuters 2022 Business Transformation Award for Sustainable Business Priorities
By Scott Drury, CEO of SoCalGas
Oct 24, 2022
California is America’s largest economy, on pace to overtake Germany as the fourth largest on the planet. Governor Newsom and other state leaders rightfully point with pride to California’s spirit of leadership and innovation as a driver of the state’s success and a model for others to follow.
As one of America’s largest energy infrastructure companies SoCalGas shares that spirit. We are privileged to serve 22 million Californians and proud of our work as an industry leader and innovator in safety, reliability, decarbonization and more.
SoCalGas is honored to have received the 2022 Reuters Business Transformation Award. Among a field of major global companies, SoCalGas was identified as a leader in sustainable business priorities. A cornerstone of this prestigious award is the degree to which the winner’s transformations have the “potential to create positive impact at scale in their sector and beyond.”
SoCalGas is a leader in sustainability with innovations across our business. From the delivery of renewable natural gas to support clean transportation, to powering company facilities with renewable energy, to creating a Customer Council on Decarbonization to help major energy users decarbonize their operations, SoCalGas is advancing its mission to build the cleanest, safest, most innovative energy company in America.
SoCalGas has reduced methane emissions by nearly 40% since 2015 and recently proposed a game changing decarbonization solution, Angeles Link, an energy infrastructure system under development that could deliver reliable green hydrogen at scale to the Los Angeles Basin for use in electric generation and hard-to-electrify sectors.
We are actively developing an industry-leading portfolio of scalable clean fuels demonstration projects with partners from private industry, the US Department of Energy and California Energy Commission, and leading research institutions such as the University of California Irvine and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Clean fuels like hydrogen could support decarbonized and reliable electric generation, clean high-heat manufacturing, and would help California reach its zero-emissions vehicle goals.
In recognition of the critical role that clean fuels will play in transforming and decarbonizing energy, recent federal legislation provides $8 billion in federal funds to support hydrogen hubs and another $7 billion for carbon management projects. SoCalGas is actively working to support California in competing for these much-needed resources.
While California is a model for others to follow, to achieve our goals, it’s also important that we learn from others. Twenty-one nations in Europe are repurposing existing natural gas pipelines to provide as much as 70% of the infrastructure needed to build an affordable, interconnected clean hydrogen network.
With overall electricity demand expected to double over the next two decades here in California, leveraging existing energy infrastructure at scale will be critical to accelerating decarbonization, making it more affordable and enabling economic growth.
Beyond infrastructure, SoCalGas’ sustainability leadership shows up in our communities, including a historic goal to invest approximately $50 million in underserved communities over the next five years and purchasing 42% - nearly $1 billion – of all our goods and services from women, minority, LGBT, and persons with disabilities business enterprises in 2021.
We are proud to be recognized by Reuters for making a meaningful difference in our industry, communities, and beyond.
About SoCalGas
SoCalGas is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States, serving more than 21 million consumers across approximately 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California. Our mission is: Safe, Reliable, and Affordable energy delivery today. Ready for tomorrow. SoCalGas is a recognized leader in the energy industry and has been named Corporate Member of the Year by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce for its volunteer leadership in the communities it serves. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE), a leading North American energy infrastructure company. For more information, visit SoCalGas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on social media @SoCalGas.
This news blog contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about the future, involve risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees. Future results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. These forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this press release We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
In this news blog, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “contemplate,” “plan,” “estimate,” “project,” “forecast,” “envision,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “will,” “confident,” “may,” “can,” “potential,” “possible,” “proposed,” “in process,” “construct,” “develop,” “opportunity,” “preliminary,” “initiative,” "target," "outlook," “optimistic,” “poised,” “positioned,” “maintain,” “continue,” “progress,” “advance,” “goal,” “aim,” “commit,” or similar expressions, or when we discuss our guidance, priorities, strategies, goals, vision, mission, projections, intentions or expectations.
Factors, among others, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement include: decisions, denials of cost recovery, audits, investigations, inquiries, ordered studies, regulations, denials or revocations of permits, consents, approvals or other authorizations, renewals of franchises, and other actions, including the failure to honor contracts and commitments, by the (i) California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Internal Revenue Service and other regulatory bodies and (ii) U.S. and states, counties, cities and other jurisdictions therein where we do business; the success of business development efforts and construction projects, including risks related to (i) completing construction projects or other transactions on schedule and budget, (ii) realizing anticipated benefits from any of these efforts if completed, (iii) obtaining third-party consents and approvals and (iv) third parties honoring their contracts and commitments; changes to our capital expenditure plans and their potential impact on rate base or other growth; litigation, arbitration and other proceedings, and changes (i) to laws and regulations, including those related to tax, (ii) due to the results of elections, and (iii) in trade and other foreign policy, including the imposition of tariffs by the U.S. and foreign countries; cybersecurity threats, including by state and state-sponsored actors, of ransomware or other attacks on our systems or the systems of third parties with which we conduct business, including the energy grid or other energy infrastructure; the availability, uses, sufficiency, and cost of capital resources and our ability to borrow money or otherwise raise capital on favorable terms and meet our obligations, which can be affected by, among other things, (i) actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or place those ratings on negative outlook, (ii) instability in the capital markets, and (iii) fluctuating interest rates and inflation; the impact on affordability of our customer rates and our cost of capital and on our ability to pass through higher costs to customers due to (i) volatility in inflation, interest rates and commodity prices and (ii) the cost of meeting the demand for lower carbon and reliable energy in California; the impact of climate policies, laws, rules, regulations, trends and required disclosures, including actions to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas, increased uncertainty in the political or regulatory environment for California natural gas distribution companies, the risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets, and uncertainty related to emerging technologies; weather, natural disasters, pandemics, accidents, equipment failures, explosions, terrorism, information system outages or other events, such as work stoppages, that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities or systems, cause the release of harmful materials or fires or subject us to liability for damages, fines and penalties, some of which may not be recoverable through regulatory mechanisms or insurance or may impact our ability to obtain satisfactory levels of affordable insurance; the availability of natural gas and natural gas storage capacity, including disruptions caused by failures in the pipeline and storage systems or limitations on the injection and withdrawal of natural gas from storage facilities; and other uncertainties, some of which are difficult to predict and beyond our control.
These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that the company has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on Sempra’s website, www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements.
Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra Infrastructure Partners, Sempra Texas, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.P.I. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company or Southern California Gas Company, and Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra Infrastructure Partners, Sempra Texas, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the CPUC.