SAN DIEGO, Sept. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For the seventh consecutive year, Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index.

The index recognizes top companies in North America in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria. Sempra Energy is one of eight companies from the utilities industry to be recognized.

"Sustainability is a priority for our company and embedded in our culture," said Dennis V. Arriola, executive vice president of corporate strategy and external affairs for Sempra Energy. "This recognition reflects the importance we place on being a responsible partner."

Sempra Energy recently released its ninth Corporate Responsibility Report, which documents the company's continuing progress in areas ranging from emissions and water use reductions to safety and diversity. Among the accomplishments, Sempra Energy's companywide emissions rate for power generation was roughly half the U.S. national average last year.

Established in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices are compiled annually by S&P Dow Jones and RobecoSAM, a sustainable investment specialty firm. They were the first organizations in the world to track the financial performance of companies that lead their respective industries in managing economic, environmental and social issues with a strong focus on long-term shareholder value. The indices serve as benchmarks for investors who integrate sustainability considerations into their portfolios.

For more information on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, visit: www.sustainability-indexes.com. To learn more about sustainability at Sempra Energy, visit: http://www.sempra.com/sustainability/.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2016 revenues of more than $10 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' more than 16,000 employees serve approximately 32 million consumers worldwide.

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," "assumes," "depends," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "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 actual results and future actions to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements include: the risk that our proposed merger involving Energy Future Holdings Corp. (EFH) and EFH's indirect interest in Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) (the Merger) may not receive bankruptcy court and governmental and regulatory approvals required to consummate the Merger or that required bankruptcy court and governmental and regulatory approvals may delay the Merger or result in the imposition of conditions that could cause the parties to abandon the transaction or be onerous to us; the risk that a condition to closing of the Merger may not be satisfied, including receipt of a satisfactory supplemental private letter ruling from the Internal Revenue Service; the ability to fully realize cost savings and any other expected synergies from the transactions related to the Merger within the expected time-frames or at all; disruption from the Merger may make it more difficult to conduct business as usual or maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; risks associated with diverting, and continuing to divert, significant management resources towards the completion of the Merger; actions and the timing of actions, including decisions, new regulations, and issuances of permits and other authorizations by the California Public Utilities Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, states, cities and counties, and other regulatory and governmental bodies in the United States and other countries in which we operate; the timing and success of business development efforts and construction projects, including risks in obtaining or maintaining permits and other authorizations on a timely basis, risks in completing construction projects on schedule and on budget, and risks in obtaining the consent and participation of partners; the resolution of civil and criminal litigation and regulatory investigations; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and ratepayers; modifications of settlements; delays in, or disallowance or denial of, regulatory agency authorizations to recover costs in rates from customers (including with respect to regulatory assets associated with the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station facility and 2007 wildfires) or regulatory agency approval for projects required to enhance safety and reliability; 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 transmission grid, moratoriums or limitations on the withdrawal or injection of natural gas from or into storage facilities, and equipment failures; changes in energy markets; volatility in commodity prices; moves to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas; the impact on the value of our investment in natural gas storage and related assets from low natural gas prices, low volatility of natural gas prices and the inability to procure favorable long-term contracts for storage services; risks posed by actions of third parties who control the operations of our investments, and risks that our partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill their contractual commitments; weather conditions, natural disasters, accidents, equipment failures, computer system outages, explosions, terrorist attacks and other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, cause the release of greenhouse gases, radioactive materials and harmful emissions, cause wildfires and subject us to third-party 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) or may be disputed by insurers; 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; capital markets and economic conditions, including the availability of credit and the liquidity of our investments; fluctuations in inflation, interest and currency exchange rates and our ability to effectively hedge the risk of such fluctuations; changes in the tax code as a result of potential federal tax reform, such as the elimination of the deduction for interest and non-deductibility of all, or a portion of, the cost of imported materials, equipment and commodities; changes in foreign and domestic trade policies and laws, including border tariffs, revisions to favorable international trade agreements, and changes that make our exports less competitive or otherwise restrict our ability to export; the ability to win competitively bid infrastructure projects against a number of strong and aggressive competitors; 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 due to 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 and from possible departing retail load resulting from customers transferring to Direct Access and Community Choice Aggregation or other forms of distributed and local power generation, and the potential risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets and contractual obligations; 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 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 South American Utilities, Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra LNG & Midstream, Sempra Renewables, Sempra Mexico and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same as the California Utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.

SOURCE Sempra Energy