ARLINGTON, Ariz., Sept. 14, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra U.S.
Gas & Power today announced a 100-megawatt (MW) expansion of
its Mesquite Solar complex in Arlington,
Ariz., about 60 miles west of Phoenix. When completed in late 2016, the
expansion, called Mesquite Solar 2, will produce enough power for
45,000 homes.
The entire output of the Mesquite Solar 2 expansion has been
sold to Southern California Edison under a 20-year power purchase
agreement. The contract is subject to approval by the California
Public Utilities Commission.
"We are pleased to support Southern California Edison's
commitment to diversify its growing renewable energy portfolio
through the development of Mesquite Solar 2," said Kevin C. Sagara, president of renewables for
Sempra U.S. Gas & Power. "The expansion of our landmark
Mesquite Solar complex reflects the progressive vision and
leadership by the state of Arizona
and Maricopa County, and we look
forward to delivering a new supply of clean, emission-free energy
to California consumers."
Construction on Mesquite Solar 2 is expected to begin this fall.
The project will create hundreds of construction jobs, part of a
multi-phase expansion that will employ about 600 workers at
peak.
"Mesquite Solar 2 represents quality jobs for Arizona residents, as well as an economic
boost to local businesses," said Clint
Hickman, Maricopa Counter supervisor. "I look forward to
seeing this new phase of Mesquite Solar complex break ground later
this year."
The 4,000-acre Mesquite Solar complex is among the largest
photovoltaic solar facilities in the U.S. By late 2016, the
complex's three phases are expected to produce a total of 400
MW.
The company also expects to complete the 94-MW Copper Mountain
Solar 4 project in Nevada during
that time frame. By year-end 2016, the combined solar power
portfolio of projects jointly owned by Sempra U.S. Gas & Power
in Arizona and Nevada is expected to grow to more than 1,000
MW.
About Sempra U.S. Gas & Power
Sempra U.S. Gas
& Power, LLC is a leading developer of renewable energy and
natural gas solutions with power plants that generate enough
electricity for nearly 600,000 homes. Sempra U.S. Gas &
Power companies also operate natural gas storage facilities,
pipelines and distribution utilities. The company is a subsidiary
of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding
company with 2014 revenues of $11
billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 17,000 employees
serve more than 32 million consumers worldwide. For more
information, visit www.SempraUSGP.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 like
"believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates,"
"projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "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, national and international economic, competitive,
political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments;
actions and the timing of actions, including issuances of permits
to construct and licenses for operation, by the California Public
Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department
of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, California Energy
Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Air
Resources Board, and other regulatory, governmental and
environmental bodies in the United
States and other countries in which we operate; 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; energy markets,
including the timing and extent of changes and volatility in
commodity prices, and the impact of any protracted reduction in oil
prices from historical averages; 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;
delays in the timing of costs incurred and the timing of the
regulatory agency authorization to recover such costs in rates from
customers; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that
result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders
and ratepayers; capital markets conditions, including the
availability of credit and the liquidity of our investments;
inflation, interest and currency exchange rates; the impact of
benchmark interest rates, generally Moody's A-rated utility bond
yields, on our California Utilities' cost of capital; the
availability of electric power, natural gas and liquefied natural
gas, and natural gas pipeline and storage capacity, including
disruptions caused by failures in the North American transmission
grid, pipeline explosions and equipment failures and the
decommissioning of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS);
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,
terrorist attacks that threaten system operations and critical
infrastructure, and wars; the ability to win competitively bid
infrastructure projects against a number of strong competitors
willing to aggressively bid for these projects; weather conditions,
conservation efforts, natural disasters, catastrophic accidents,
and other events that may disrupt our operations, damage our
facilities and systems, and subject us to third-party liability for
property damage or personal injuries; risks that our partners or
counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill their
contractual commitments; risks posed by decisions and actions of
third parties who control the operations of investments in which we
do not have a controlling interest; risks inherent with nuclear
power facilities and radioactive materials storage, including the
catastrophic release of such materials, the disallowance of the
recovery of the investment in, or operating costs of, the nuclear
facility due to an extended outage and facility closure, and
increased regulatory oversight, including motions to modify
settlements; business, regulatory, environmental and legal
decisions and requirements; expropriation of assets by foreign
governments and title and other property disputes; the impact on
reliability of San Diego Gas & Electric Company's (SDG&E)
electric transmission and distribution system due to increased
amount and variability of power supply from renewable energy
sources; the impact on competitive customer rates of the growth in
distributed and local power generation and the corresponding
decrease in demand for power delivered through SDG&E's electric
transmission and distribution system; 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; the resolution of litigation; 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 Sempra Energy 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, and on the company's website at
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 International, LLC, and Sempra U.S. Gas & Power,
LLC, and Sempra Partners, LP, are not the same companies as the
California utilities, San Diego
Gas & Electric (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company
(SoCalGas), and Sempra International, LLC, and Sempra U.S. Gas
& Power, LLC, are not regulated by the California Public
Utilities Commission. Sempra International's underlying entities
include Sempra Mexico and Sempra South American Utilities. Sempra
U.S. Gas & Power's underlying entities include Sempra
Renewables and Sempra Natural Gas.
Media
Contact:
|
Steve
Schooff
|
|
Sempra U.S. Gas &
Power
|
|
Office (619)
696-2066
|
|
sschooff@semprausgp.com
|
|
|
Financial
Contact:
|
Kendall
Helm
|
|
Sempra
Energy
|
|
(877)
696-2461
|
|
investor@sempra.com
|
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SOURCE Sempra U.S. Gas & Power