SAN DIEGO, Oct. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Amid the
growing urgency to address climate change and its impacts, San
Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) today released a
comprehensive sustainability strategy with aspirational goals in
the areas of environmental stewardship, clean transportation, grid
modernization, community engagement, and company operations to
support California's clean energy
ambitions.
The company's holistic approach to sustainability builds on
environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles, as well as
its accomplishments to date. Titled "Building a Better Future:
Our Commitment to Sustainability" (available at
sdge.com/sustainability), the document will serve as a foundation
for SDG&E to work toward key sustainability goals in the years
and decades to come. Similar to climate action plans developed by
local cities, SDG&E aims to update and evolve its "living"
sustainability strategy to reflect stakeholder feedback, regulatory
policies and technological breakthroughs.
"It's imperative that we move more quickly to address climate
change with strategic investments and partnerships because the
stakes are so high if we fail to take collective action now," said
Caroline Winn, SDG&E's chief
executive officer. "As an energy company, we have an important role
to play in the fight against climate change by not only doing our
part to reduce emissions from our own operations, but to also
develop and encourage the use of energy innovations that can make a
difference."
SDG&E aligned its sustainability goals with California's landmark climate policies and the
company's own values: "do the right thing," "champion people" and
"shape the future." The company recognizes its duties to provide
safe, reliable and affordable energy services, as well as the
systemic inequities that have existed for many years in
society. It's committed to working with regional stakeholders
and community-based organizations to help facilitate a just
and equitable transition to a cleaner energy economy that does not
leave behind vulnerable populations facing disproportionate
impacts.
SDG&E is an innovative San
Diego-based energy company that provides clean, safe and
reliable energy to better the lives of the people it serves in
San Diego and southern
Orange counties. The company is
committed to creating a sustainable future by providing its
electricity from renewable sources; modernizing natural gas
pipelines; accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles;
supporting numerous non-profit partners; and investing in
innovative technologies to ensure the reliable operation of the
region's infrastructure for generations to come. SDG&E is a
subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE). For more information,
visit SDGEnews.com
[c212.net] or connect with SDG&E on
Twitter (@SDGE
[c212.net]), Instagram
(@SDGE [c212.net])
and Facebook
[c212.net].
This [report/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. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions with
respect to the future, involve risks and uncertainties, and are not
guarantees of performance. Future results may differ materially
from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions
only as of the date of this [report/press release]. We assume no
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a
result of new information, future events or other
factors.
In this [report/press release], forward-looking statements
can be identified by words such as "believes," "expects,"
"anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts,"
"should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can,"
"potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "outlook,"
"maintain," or similar expressions, or when we discuss our
guidance, strategy, goals, vision, mission, opportunities,
projections or intentions.
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: California wildfires and the
risk that we may be found liable for damages regardless of fault
and the risk that we may not be able to recover any such costs from
insurance, the wildfire fund established by California Assembly
Bill 1054 or in rates from customers; decisions, investigations,
regulations, issuances of permits and other authorizations, renewal
of franchises, and other actions by (i) the California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S. Department of Energy, and other
regulatory and governmental bodies and (ii) states, cities,
counties and other jurisdictions in the U.S. in which we operate or
do business; the success of business development efforts and
construction projects, including risks in (i) the ability to make a
final investment decision and completing construction projects on
schedule and budget, (ii) counterparties' financial or other
ability to fulfill contractual commitments, and (iii) the ability
to realize anticipated benefits from any of these efforts once
completed; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our (i) ability
to commence and complete capital and other projects and obtain
regulatory approvals, (ii) supply chain and current and prospective
counterparties, contractors, customers, employees and partners,
(iii) liquidity, resulting from bill payment challenges experienced
by our customers, including in connection with a CPUC-ordered
suspension of service disconnections, decreased stability and
accessibility of the capital markets and other factors, and (iv)
ability to sustain operations and satisfy compliance requirements
due to social distancing measures or if employee absenteeism were
to increase significantly; the resolution of civil and criminal
litigation, regulatory inquiries, investigations and proceedings,
and arbitrations; actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade
our credit ratings or to place those ratings on negative outlook
and our ability to borrow at favorable interest rates; moves to
reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas; weather, natural
disasters, accidents, equipment failures, computer system outages
and other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities
and systems, cause the release of harmful materials, cause fires
and subject us to 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; 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; the impact on
competitive customer rates and reliability due to the growth in
distributed and local power generation, including from departing
retail load resulting from customers transferring to Direct Access,
Community Choice Aggregation or other forms of distributed or local
power generation, and the risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets
and contractual obligations; volatility in interest and inflation
rates and commodity prices and our ability to effectively hedge the
risk of such volatility; the impact of changes to U.S. federal and
state tax laws 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 San Diego Gas & Electric Company and its parent
company, Sempra Energy, have 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 Sempra Energy's website, www.sempra.com. Investors should not
rely unduly on any forward-looking statements.
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 or Southern California Gas Company, and Sempra
North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra
Texas Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the
CPUC.
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SOURCE San Diego Gas & Electric