SAN DIEGO, April 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The director of the Nevada Governor's Office of Energy, Paul Thomsen, and Boulder City Mayor Roger Tobler and community leaders today joined project owners Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and Consolidated Edison Development, to dedicate the 250-megawatt (MW) Copper Mountain Solar 3 facility in Boulder City, Nev.

Situated on 1,400 acres, Copper Mountain Solar 3 is the third phase of the landmark Copper Mountain Solar complex, currently among the largest photovoltaic (PV) solar power installations in the U.S. The entire complex, which also includes the recently completed 58-MW second phase of Copper Mountain Solar 2, is capable of generating more than 450 MW of power, enough energy to power 142,000 homes.

"Copper Mountain Solar is an excellent example of economic diversification through the advancement of clean energy generation, further solidifying Nevada as a sustainable energy leader," said Paul Thomsen, director of the Nevada Governor's Office of Energy. "Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and Consolidated Edison Development have made a significant investment in Nevada, demonstrating cooperation, collaboration and leadership in the west's energy industry."

"Copper Mountain Solar 3 is our largest solar project to date, and we are pleased to be joined by state and local leadership, as well as members of the Boulder City community, to celebrate this significant milestone," said Patti Wagner, president and CEO of Sempra U.S. Gas & Power. "We look forward to continued partnership and collaboration with Boulder City as we prepare to break ground on the next phase of the Copper Mountain Solar complex, Copper Mountain Solar 4, later this year."

"ConEdison Development is proud of the relationship it has cultivated with Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and we're honored to dedicate the 250-megawatt Copper Mountain Solar plant," said Mark Noyes, senior vice president and chief operating officer of ConEdison Development. "We look forward to continue working with Sempra U.S. Gas & Power to building a cleaner environment and greener future."

Construction on Copper Mountain Solar 3 began in 2013 and was completed in early 2015. The project created about 500 construction jobs at peak and four positions to operate the facility. It generates enough clean electricity to power approximately 80,000 homes.

The completion of Copper Mountain Solar 3 brings Sempra U.S. Gas & Power's jointly-owned operating solar power portfolio up to 660 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.

About Consolidated Edison Development

Con Edison Development (CED) develops, owns and operates renewable and energy infrastructure projects.  The company focuses its efforts on projects that provide stable earnings and leverage the core strengths of Consolidated Edison, Inc. CED functions as a growth vehicle for the Competitive Energy Businesses and focuses on renewable energy and gas assets as part of an overall corporate goal of responsible environmental stewardship. Through its deep resources and trusted relationships with a range of energy-related companies, Con Edison Development has built a robust pipeline of renewable energy projects and opportunistically grown its portfolio to more than 550 MW as of year-end 2014. Con Edison Development can be reached at their website at www.coneddev.com.

Con Edison Development is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED), one of the nation's largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $13 billion in annual revenues and $44 billion in assets. More information can be obtained by calling 914-993-2185. You can also visit the Consolidated Edison, Inc. website at www.conedison.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," "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.  Factors among others that could cause our actual results and future actions to differ materially from those described in our forward-looking statements include:: 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; 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; 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; 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, 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. 

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SOURCE Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, LLC