LOS ANGELES, Feb. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In December 2015, the Los
Angeles City Attorney and Los Angeles County Counsel filed a
complaint on behalf of the People of California against Southern California Gas
Company (SoCalGas) related to the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak for
public nuisance and violation of the California Unfair Competition
Law. On Feb. 2, 2016, the
California Attorney General,
acting in her independent capacity and on behalf of the people of
the State of California and
the California Air Resources Board, joined that existing
lawsuit.
The complaint, as amended to include the California Attorney General, adds allegations
of violations of the Health and Safety Code sections 41700
prohibiting discharge of air contaminants that cause annoyance to
the public and 25510 requiring reporting of the release of
hazardous material, as well as Government Code section 12607 for
equitable relief for the protection of natural resources. It
seeks an order for injunctive relief, to abate the public
nuisance, and to impose civil penalties. SoCalGas is working
hard to both stop the leak and to address our neighbors' concerns.
The company will respond to the lawsuit through the judicial
process.
Southern California Gas Co. has been delivering clean, safe and
reliable natural gas to its customers for more than 140 years. It
is the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility, providing
service to 21.4 million consumers connected through 5.9 million
meters in more than 500 communities. The company's service
territory encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles throughout
central and Southern California,
from Visalia to the Mexican
border. Southern California Gas Co. is a regulated subsidiary of
Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding
company based in San Diego.
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, California Energy Commission, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, 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; energy markets, including the timing
and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices, and the
impact of any protracted reduction in oil and natural gas 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 and
interest rates; 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, pipeline explosions and equipment failures; 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; 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 some
of which may or may not be covered by insurance; risks that our
partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill
their contractual commitments;business, regulatory, environmental
and legal decisions and requirements; 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 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
forwardlooking 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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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company