SAN DIEGO, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy (NYSE:
SRE) today announced that the company is opening a new
"Center of Excellence" in
Houston, Texas. The office is
expected to open later this year.
"We are committed to building the premier energy infrastructure
company in North America, and
creating a regional headquarters in Houston advances our business strategy," said
Jeffrey W. Martin, chairman and CEO
of Sempra Energy. "Texas is a
remarkable market, and our Houston Center of Excellence will allow
us to add hundreds of new engineering and construction positions to
support our growing liquefied natural gas (LNG) business in the
Gulf region, while also allowing us to showcase our company's
commitment to innovation, technology and leadership within the
energy industry."
The new regional headquarters is located in Uptown Houston and
will include the relocation of existing employees in the greater
Houston area to the new site.
"Sempra Energy has already made a strong commitment to
Texas with big investments in
Oncor, Sharyland and natural gas infrastructure," said Texas Gov. Greg
Abbott. "Their new Houston
office is a symbol of confidence in Texas' energy leadership, workforce and
regulatory climate. Houston is the
world's premier energy community and I welcome Sempra's expansion
in Texas."
In addition to expanded office space for regional business
operations, the Houston Center of Excellence will showcase
innovative technologies developed by Sempra companies to support
today's evolving energy market. The exhibit space will display
interactive technologies that improve the delivery of more secure
and resilient energy supplies to customers, such as the expansion
of natural gas into the electricity mix to support grid stability
and integration of digital and meteorological technologies to
improve power reliability, as well as virtual reality experiences
connected to the Cameron LNG liquefaction-export facility.
Sempra Energy began operating in Texas more than 20 years ago. Most recently,
in May 2019, the company acquired a
50% limited-partnership interest in Sharyland Utilities, LLC.
Sempra Energy is also the majority owner of Oncor Electric Delivery
Company LLC (Oncor), the largest electric transmission and
distribution utility in Texas,
serving more than 10 million consumers. In 2019, Sempra Energy also
supported Oncor's acquisition of InfraREIT, Inc. Through the
acquisitions of Oncor, InfraREIT and Sharyland, Sempra Energy has
made investments of more than $10
billion in Texas.
Additionally, Sempra Energy's subsidiary Sempra LNG is
developing the proposed Port Arthur LNG export project in
Jefferson County, Texas. Port
Arthur LNG is a potential multibillion-dollar infrastructure
development project that will enable the delivery of natural gas
sourced from Texas to world
markets. The project will also support manufacturing, small
businesses and the community by creating thousands of jobs and
contributing to the local economy. Sempra LNG develops, builds and
invests in natural gas liquefaction facilities and is pursuing the
development of five strategically located LNG projects in
North America with a goal of
delivering 45 million tonnes per annum of clean natural gas,
including natural gas sourced from Texas, to the largest world markets.
Sempra Energy's mission is to be North
America's premier energy infrastructure company. With more
than $60 billion in total assets
reported in 2018, the San
Diego-based company is the utility holding company with the
largest U.S. customer base. The Sempra Energy companies' more than
20,000 employees deliver energy with purpose to approximately 40
million consumers worldwide. The company is focused on the most
attractive markets in North
America, including California, Texas, Mexico
and the LNG export market. Sempra Energy has been consistently
recognized for its leadership in diversity and inclusion, and
sustainability, and is a member of the S&P 500 Utilities Index
and the Dow Jones Utility Index.
This press release contains statements that are not
historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements can be identified by words such as
"believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates,"
"projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "assumes," "depends,"
"should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can,"
"potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "outlook,"
"maintain," or similar expressions, or when we discuss our
guidance, strategy, plans, goals, vision, mission, opportunities,
projections, initiatives, objectives or intentions. Forward-looking
statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks,
uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially
from those expressed in the forward-looking statements.
Factors, among others, that could cause our actual results
and future actions to differ materially from those described in any
forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties relating
to: the greater degree and prevalence of wildfires in California in recent years and the risk that
we may be found liable for damages regardless of fault, such as
where inverse condemnation applies, and the risk that we may not be
able to recover any such costs from insurance, the California wildfire fund or in rates from
customers in California or
otherwise; actions and the timing of actions, including decisions,
investigations, new regulations and issuances of permits and other
authorizations and renewal of franchises by the Comisión Federal de
Electricidad (CFE), California Public Utilities Commission, U.S.
Department of Energy, California Department of Conservation's
Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, Los Angeles County
Department of Public Health, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety Administration, Public Utility Commission of
Texas, states, cities and
counties, and other regulatory and governmental bodies in the U.S.
and other countries in which we operate; the success of business
development efforts, construction projects, and major acquisitions,
divestitures and internal structural changes, including risks in
(i) obtaining or maintaining authorizations; (ii) completing
construction projects on schedule and budget; (iii) obtaining the
consent of partners; (iv) counterparties' financial ability or
otherwise to fulfill contractual commitments; (v) winning
competitively bid infrastructure projects; (vi) the ability to
complete contemplated acquisitions and/or divestitures and the
disruptions caused by such efforts; and (vii) the ability to
realize anticipated benefits from any of these efforts once
completed; the resolution of civil and criminal litigation,
regulatory investigations and proceedings, and arbitrations;
actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings
or those of our subsidiaries or to place those ratings on negative
outlook and our ability to borrow at favorable interest rates;
deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a
reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and
ratepayers; denial of approvals of proposed settlements; delays in,
or denial of, regulatory agency authorizations to recover costs in
rates from customers or regulatory agency approval for projects
required to enhance safety and reliability; moves to reduce or
eliminate reliance on natural gas; weather conditions, natural
disasters, accidents, equipment failures, computer system outages,
explosions, terrorist attacks and other events that disrupt our
operations, damage our facilities and systems, cause the release of
harmful materials, cause fires and subject us to third-party
liability for property damage or personal injuries, fines and
penalties, some of which may not be covered by insurance (including
costs in excess of applicable policy limits), may be disputed by
insurers or may otherwise not be recoverable through regulatory
mechanisms or may impact our ability to obtain satisfactory levels
of affordable insurance; the availability of electric power and
natural gas and natural gas storage capacity, including disruptions
caused by failures in the transmission grid, limitations on the
withdrawal or injection of natural gas from or into storage
facilities, and equipment failures; risks posed by actions of third
parties who control the operations of our investments;
cybersecurity threats to the energy grid, storage and pipeline
infrastructure, the information and systems used to operate our
businesses, and the confidentiality of our proprietary information
and the personal information of our customers and employees;
expropriation of assets, the failure to honor the terms of
contracts by foreign governments and state-owned entities such as
the CFE, and other property disputes; the impact at San Diego Gas
& Electric Company on competitive customer rates and
reliability of electric transmission and distribution systems due
to the growth in distributed and local power generation and from
possible departing retail load resulting from customers
transferring to Direct Access and Community Choice Aggregation or
other forms of distributed and local power generation and the
potential risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets and contractual
obligations; Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC's (Oncor) ability
to eliminate or reduce its quarterly dividends due to regulatory
capital requirements and other regulatory and governance
commitments, including the determination by a majority of Oncor's
independent directors or a minority member director to retain such
amounts to meet future requirements; changes in capital markets,
energy markets and economic conditions, including the availability
of credit; and volatility in foreign currency exchange, interest
and inflation rates and commodity prices and our ability to
effectively hedge the risk of such volatility; changes in foreign
and domestic trade policies and laws, including border tariffs and
revisions to or replacement of international trade agreements, such
as the North American Free Trade Agreement, that may increase our
costs or impair our ability to resolve trade disputes; actions of
activist shareholders, which could disrupt our operations by, among
other things, requiring significant time by management and our
board of directors; the impact of federal or state tax reform and
our ability to mitigate adverse impacts; and other uncertainties,
some of which may be difficult to predict and are beyond our
control.
These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the
reports that Sempra Energy 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 the company's website, www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely
unduly on any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company
undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forecasts or
projections or other forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Sempra South American Utilities, Sempra North American
Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities,
Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) and Infraestructura
Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies
as the California utilities, San
Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) or Southern California
Gas Company (SoCalGas), and Sempra South American Utilities, Sempra
North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra
Texas Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the
California Public Utilities Commission.
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SOURCE Sempra Energy