SAN DIEGO, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra U.S. Gas & Power today announced that the cities of Los Angeles and Burbank have approved a 20-year agreement to purchase 250 megawatts (MW) of solar power from Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's proposed Copper Mountain Solar 3 project to be constructed in Boulder City, Nev., approximately 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas.

The Copper Mountain Solar 3 agreement provides the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) with the bulk of the power produced by the solar power plant – 210 MW – through an agreement with the Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA).  SCPPA is a joint powers authority consisting of 11 municipal utilities and one irrigation district that finances power and transmission resources on behalf of its members. LADWP is one of the members as is the city of Burbank.  Burbank will purchase the remaining 40 MW. 

Power will be delivered from the plant to Southern California through a substation and transmission lines operated by LADWP.

"Copper Mountain Solar 3 is another important step toward reaching our goal of 1,400 megawatts of renewable capacity by 2016," said Jeffrey W. Martin, president and CEO of Sempra U.S. Gas & Power.  "We are pleased to partner with the cities of Los Angeles and Burbank as they assume a leadership role in bringing clean renewable energy to their customers in Southern California."

"This solar contract with Sempra U.S. Gas & Power is proof positive that environmental progress and economic growth go hand in hand," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa. "It is high time Los Angeles kicked its addiction to dirty coal energy and I am proud we are setting an example for a successful, cost-efficient transition to renewable energy."

"This will bring Burbank to within as much as 1 percent of its 33-percent renewable energy goal for 2020," said Fred Fletcher, assistant general manager of power supply for Burbank Water and Power.  "It has taken six years to make that elusive goal real."

Construction on the 1,370-acre Copper Mountain Solar 3 project is expected to begin next month.  At the height of construction, it will create approximately 300 new jobs.  When completed in late 2015, the project will deliver enough clean electricity to power about 80,000 homes annually.  Copper Mountain Solar 3 and its two adjacent Copper Mountain Solar facilities in the Nevada desert will combine to create one of the largest solar power complexes in the Southwest.

Copper Mountain Solar 3 is the fourth utility-scale renewable energy project that Sempra U.S. Gas & Power has developed in Boulder City.  When Copper Mountain Solar 3 is completed, the Boulder City solar projects will have a combined capacity exceeding 450 MW.  Sempra U.S. Gas & Power has an additional 700 MW of solar power under development in Arizona and California.

Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, LLC is a leading developer of renewable energy and natural gas solutions.  The company operates solar, wind and natural gas power plants that generate enough electricity for nearly 1 million homes, along with natural gas storage and pipelines, and distribution utilities. Sempra U.S. Gas & Power is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2011 revenues of $10 billion.  The Sempra Energy companies' nearly 17,500 employees serve about 31 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," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "may," "will," "would," "could," "should," "potential," "target," "outlook," "depends," "pursue" or similar expressions, or discussions of guidance, strategies, plans, goals, 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 by the California Public Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, California Energy Commission, California Air Resources Board, and other regulatory, governmental and environmental bodies in the United States and other countries where the company does business; capital market conditions, including the availability of credit and the liquidity of investments; inflation, interest and exchange rates; the impact of benchmark interest rates, generally the U.S. Treasury bond and Moody's A-rated utility bond yields, on the California utilities' cost of capital; the timing and success of business development efforts and construction, maintenance and capital projects, including risks inherent in the ability to obtain, and the timing of the granting of, permits, licenses, certificates and other authorizations; energy markets, including the timing and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices; the availability of electric power, natural gas and liquefied natural gas, including disruptions caused by failures in the North American transmission grid, pipeline explosions and equipment failures; weather conditions, natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, and conservation efforts; risks inherent in nuclear power generation and radioactive materials storage, including catastrophic release of such materials, the disallowance of the recovery of the investment in, or operating costs of, the generation facility due to an extended outage, and increased regulatory oversight; risks posed by decisions and actions of third parties who control the operations of investments in which the company does not have a controlling interest; wars, terrorist attacks and cyber security threats; business, regulatory, environmental and legal decisions and requirements; expropriation of assets by foreign governments and title and other property disputes; the status of deregulation of retail natural gas and electricity delivery; the inability or determination not to enter into long-term supply and sales agreements or long-term firm capacity agreements; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the company.  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.

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, are not the same companies as 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.

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SOURCE Sempra Energy