LOS ANGELES, Jan. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Earlier
today, the California Department of Conservation's Division of Oil,
Gas and Geothermal Resources announced that a public meeting on
Aliso Canyon required under SB 380 will be held on February 1 and 2, 2017. SoCalGas issued the
following statement in response:
"Southern California Gas Co. supports the public participation
outlined in Senate Bill 380. The upcoming meetings on February 1 and 2 mark an important next step in
the State's comprehensive safety review process and are one of the
conditions necessary for us to resume injections at Aliso
Canyon.
"As the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources said in
its announcement today, the entire facility has undergone extensive
inspections and each well has been thoroughly tested with stringent
standards.
"Just last week the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal
Resources and the California Public Utilities Commission hosted
tours of Aliso Canyon for community and elected leaders to see
firsthand the extensive physical upgrades and advanced technologies
that have been deployed to enhance safety at the facility.
"The State's energy experts and independent third parties have
concluded, in three consecutive technical assessments, that Aliso
Canyon is needed to meet the region's natural gas and electricity
needs.
"Over the last year, the field has remained available for
withdrawal to meet the region's energy needs. The ability to resume
injections at Aliso Canyon will further enhance the reliability of
the region's natural gas and electricity systems.
"We understand and support that the Division of Oil, Gas and
Geothermal Resources and the California Public Utilities Commission
have taken these important next steps in the process and we are
currently reviewing the additional guidelines that were announced
today."
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 like "believes,"
"expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects,"
"forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "assumes," "depends,"
"should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may,"
"potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "goals,"
"outlook," "maintain" or similar expressions, or discussions of
guidance, strategies, plans, goals, 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.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various
assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and
other risks, including, among others: local, regional, and national
economic, competitive, political, legislative, legal, and
regulatory conditions, decisions, and developments; actions and the
timing of actions, including general rate case decisions, new
regulations, issuances of permits to construct, operate and
maintain facilities and equipment and to use land, franchise
agreements, and licenses for operation, by the California Public
Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department
of Energy, California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal
Resources, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California Energy
Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pipeline and
Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, California Air Resources
Board, South Coast Air Quality Management District, cities and
counties, and other regulatory, governmental and environmental
bodies in the United States;
the timing and success of business development efforts and
construction, maintenance and capital projects, including risks in
obtaining, maintaining or extending permits, licenses, certificates
and other authorizations on a timely basis and risks in obtaining
adequate and competitive financing for such projects; the
resolution of civil and criminal litigation and regulatory
investigations; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice
that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among
shareholders and ratepayers and delays in regulatory agency
authorization to recover costs in rates from customers; the
availability of electric power and natural gas, and natural gas
pipeline and storage capacity, including disruptions caused by
failures in the North American transmission grid, moratoriums on
the ability to withdraw natural gas from or inject natural gas into
storage facilities, pipeline explosions and equipment failures;
energy markets; the timing and extent of changes and volatility in
commodity prices; the impact on the value of our natural gas
storage assets from low natural gas prices, low volatility of
natural gas prices and the inability to procure favorable long-term
contracts for natural gas storage services; risks that our partners
or counterparties will be unable (due to liquidity issues,
bankruptcy or otherwise) or unwilling to fulfill their contractual
commitments; capital markets conditions, including the availability
of credit and the liquidity of our investments, and inflation and
interest rates; cybersecurity threats to the energy grid, natural
gas 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; terrorist attacks that threaten system
operations and critical infrastructure; wars; weather conditions,
natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, equipment failures and
other events that may disrupt our operations, damage our facilities
and systems, cause the release of greenhouse gases and harmful
emissions, 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 or may be disputed by insurers; the
inability or determination not to enter into long-term supply and
sales agreements or long-term firm capacity agreements due to
insufficient market interest, unattractive pricing or other
factors; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to
predict and many of which are beyond our control.
These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the
reports that the company has filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These reports are available through the EDGAR system
free-of-charge on the SEC's
website, www.sec.gov. 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.
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visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/socalgas-statement-on-california-department-of-conservations-division-of-oil-gas-and-geothermal-resources-announcement-of-public-meeting-300392498.html
SOURCE Southern California Gas Company