Sempra Energy CEO Addresses Energy Transition At Global Energy Forum
Chairman and CEO Jeff Martin Says Strong Leadership and Innovation Needed to Drive the Global Energy Transition
SAN DIEGO, Dec. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy's Chairman and CEO, Jeffrey W. Martin, delivered the keynote speech today at S&P Global Platts' Global Energy Outlook Forum, addressing the future of the rapidly evolving energy industry, trends affecting the sector and the need for leadership and innovation to address global issues.
"Access to energy has improved the lives of billions by enabling enhanced health care, greater food supply and technology innovations," said Martin in his keynote address. "However, there are a number of profound challenges facing communities around the globe, including the task of modernizing the world's energy infrastructure and delivering new energy resources."
Sempra Energy is working to capitalize on the opportunities created by the energy transition and the United States' growing leadership position in the global energy market. Sempra Energy is focused on growing in the most attractive markets in North America with a view toward having a global impact. Through its strategically located liquefied natural gas (LNG) development projects, the company is developing the infrastructure that can directly dispatch LNG into Atlantic and Pacific markets to deliver cleaner, more reliable and more affordable energy to the world.
"The world is depending on new energy sources," said Martin. "So many countries need access to cleaner, more secure forms of energy to address the needs of their growing populations. This underlies Sempra's belief that the 21st century is the 'Energy Century' highlighting the need to deliver energy with purpose – backed by strong leadership and a united focus. There is a lot riding on the decisions we make."
Over the past few years, Sempra has set out to simplify its business model and sharpen its focus on building North America's premier energy infrastructure company. The company has reduced its geographic asset base, while narrowing its focus in the energy value chain to transmission and distribution assets that offer attractive returns. In fact, more than 40 million consumers worldwide count on Sempra Energy to power their lives. The company's public utilities power homes and businesses in California and Texas, while also building and operating important energy infrastructure in the United States and Mexico.
The Global Energy Outlook Forum is an annual event held in New York City, bringing together approximately 200 energy executives and industry leaders to discuss power and energy topics driven by social, political, and economic issues around the world. The key themes for this year's event are the energy transition and how the industry is investing in the future.
Additionally, Martin has been nominated for the CEO of the Year Award for the S&P Global Platts Global Energy Awards. Sempra Energy is nominated for the Energy Transition Award, which distinguishes companies at the forefront of the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy.
About Sempra Energy
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.
About S&P Global Platts
At S&P Global Platts, we provide the insights; you make better informed trading and business decisions with confidence. We're the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Customers in over 150 countries look to our expertise in news, pricing and analytics to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to markets. S&P Global Platts coverage includes oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, metals, agriculture and shipping. S&P Global Platts is a division of S&P Global, which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.platts.com.
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; and 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.
SOURCE Sempra Energy
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