Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy

Aspire 2045 Sustainability Goals

SoCalGas’s sustainability goals below are a roadmap for achieving progress, leveraging existing initiatives, and exploring opportunities for collaboration as we work towards a more sustainable and resilient energy future.

Our sustainability goals and activities align with many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). They are also aligned with the key sustainability pillars of our parent company Sempra. Learn more about Sempra’s sustainability pillars in the Sempra Corporate Sustainability Report.

Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy

Accelerating the Transition to Clean Energy

energy-transition-hero

The transition to clean energy is an environmental and social imperative. SoCalGas is accelerating the transition by advancing the use of lower-carbon or zero-carbon fuels, such as hydrogen and renewable natural gas, in support of our customers and California’s climate goals.

How we plan to accelerate the transition to clean energy:

Alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Affordable and Clean Energy
Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

View Aspire2045 Energy Transition

 

Protecting the climate and improving air quality in our communities

Protecting the Climate and Improving Air Quality in Our Communities

Protecting the Climate and Improving Air Quality in Our Communities

SoCalGas is focused on helping to improve air quality and taking actions to decarbonize our operations and support our customers in reducing their carbon footprints.

How we are working to reduce greenhouse gases and improving local air quality:

Alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Good Health and Well-Being
Sustainable Cities and Communities
Climate Action

View Aspire2045 Climate Energy

 

Increasing Clean Energy Access and Affordability

Increasing Clean Energy Access and Affordability

Increasing Clean Energy Access and Affordability

We believe the reliable and affordable supply of clean fuels is vital for an equitable transition to sustainable energy. Every year, more than 180,000 California households and businesses access SoCalGas customer energy efficiency and assistance programs.

How we aim to increase clean energy access and affordability:

  • Exceed State energy efficiency goals by 25% or more each year
  • Enroll 90% or more of eligible low-income customers in alternative rates for energy programs every year
  • Manage gas procurement costs effectively for core customers and achieve top quartile of lowest average monthly residential bill compared to our top 50 peers nationwide every year7
  • Develop new clean energy programs for customers by 2025
  • Engage our diverse Community Advisory Council quarterly through discussions and surveys to collaborate on issues around clean energy access and affordability

Alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals:

No Poverty
Affordable and Clean Energy

View Aspire2045 Clean Energy Affordability

 

Advancing a Diverse Equitable and Inclusive Culture

Advancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Aspire Hero Section

A sustainable future involves the meaningful participation of all. Advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the communities we serve, and in the workplace, promotes transparency and trust. It expands opportunity, sparks innovation and helps achieve measurable social impact.

How we aim to continue to advance a diverse, equitable and inclusive culture:

  • Take actions to lead the utility industry in racial and ethnic diversity representation in leadership roles by 20258
  • Take actions to grow representation of women in leadership roles and overall workforce by 20258
  • Plan to invest $50M to positively impact diverse and underserved communities over the next five years9
  • Help diverse businesses meet contractual requirements to work with us by increasing supplier participation in Technical Assistance Programs (TAPs) by 30% by 2025
  • Increase our total annual Diverse Business Enterprise spend to 45% by 2025

Alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Gender Equality

View Aspire2045 DEI

 

Achieving World-Class Safety

Achieving World-Class Safety

Achieving World-Class Safety

As the nation’s largest gas distribution utility, safety has been – and will remain – our core value. Our comprehensive approach to safety helps to sustain the well-being of the public and our employees, contractors, and infrastructure.

How we aim to achieve world-class safety:

  • Train 100% of identified employees in emergency management and incident response each year
  • Require 100% of approved pipeline construction contractors to have a formal safety management system program as part of contract requirements starting 202310
  • Enhance damage prevention program to decrease the rate of excavation damages to pipelines by 40% by 2030 compared to a 2020 baseline.11
  • Aim to achieve zero employee and contractor fatalities each year

Alignment with UN Sustainable Development Goals:

Decent Work and Economic Growth

View Aspire2045 Safety


Our Renewable Natural Gas Commitment:

SoCalGas’s mission is to build the cleanest, safest, and most innovative energy infrastructure company in America. That mission includes a dedication to increasing the supply of renewable natural gas (“RNG”) to our consumers. Most of SoCalGas’s fuel portfolio is, at present, comprised of non-renewable natural gas derived from fossil fuels. RNG deliveries to our customers represent just under 5% of our existing deliveries as of the end of 2023. For context, however, SoCalGas distributed RNG throughout Central and Southern California in 2020 equivalent to approximately 130% of the natural gas needs of Santa Barbara County. SoCalGas has a goal of delivering 20% RNG to our residential and small commercial and industrial customers by 2030. SoCalGas remains committed to providing increasingly renewable natural gas to its consumers. This is part of our aim to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in our operations and delivery of energy by 2045.

Footnotes

  1. Clean fuels is defined as alternative fuels that have a net zero carbon footprint. Hydrogen, biogas, synthetic natural gas, biofuels, and several synthetic gaseous and liquid fuels fall in that category, as long as their production process and their end use do not lead to net-positive carbon dioxide emissions.
  2. Goal of $400M is an aggregate co-funding target cumulative of 5 years, inclusive of 2021-2025.
  3. Specifically, we aim to provide 20% renewable natural gas to our “core service” as defined by SoCalGas’ Tariff Rule No. 23, by 2030.
  4. See SB 1371, available at: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB1371.
  5. Excludes compressor, transmission, and meter and regulator facilities.
  6. Dependent on functional application and availability of vehicle products.
  7. Third-party peer data used to track progress on this goal will be sourced from American Gas Association (AGA); Top 50 IOUs by Total Customers.
  8. "Leadership role" is defined as a management position of supervisor, team lead, manager, director, and/or officer of the Company.
  9. “Diverse” is defined as Black, Indigenous and People of Color, inclusive of American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic, Latino or Spanish Origin, Middle Eastern or North African, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (BIPOC). “Underserved” is defined as people sharing a particular circumstance, such as homelessness, low income, ill, in-crisis, disabled, LGBTQIA, military/veterans, immigrants, seniors, youth, and students.
  10. "Approved pipeline construction contractors" defined as a contractor classified under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 237120, pre-qualified, and approved by SoCalGas.
  11. Goal is based on anticipated program expansion approval from the California Public Utilities Commission.

Legal Disclaimers

This web page 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 web page, 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, strategy, goals, vision, mission, opportunities, 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, investigations, inquiries, 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; macroeconomic trends or other factors that could change our capital expenditure plans and their potential impact on rate base or other growth; litigation, arbitrations and other proceedings, and changes to laws and regulations, including those related to tax and trade policy; 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 on favorable terms and meet our obligations, including due to (i) actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or place those ratings on negative outlook, (ii) instability in the capital markets, or (iii) rising 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 and sustainability 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 system or limitations on the 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.