SAN DIEGO, Jan. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today announced that the company is opening a new "Center of Excellence" in Houston, Texas. The office is expected to open later this year.
"We are committed to building the premier energy infrastructure company in North America, and creating a regional headquarters in Houston advances our business strategy," said Jeffrey W. Martin, chairman and CEO of Sempra Energy. "Texas is a remarkable market, and our Houston Center of Excellence will allow us to add hundreds of new engineering and construction positions to support our growing liquefied natural gas (LNG) business in the Gulf region, while also allowing us to showcase our company's commitment to innovation, technology and leadership within the energy industry."
The new regional headquarters is located in Uptown Houston and will include the relocation of existing employees in the greater Houston area to the new site.
"Sempra Energy has already made a strong commitment to Texas with big investments in Oncor, Sharyland and natural gas infrastructure," said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. "Their new Houston office is a symbol of confidence in Texas' energy leadership, workforce and regulatory climate. Houston is the world's premier energy community and I welcome Sempra's expansion in Texas."
In addition to expanded office space for regional business operations, the Houston Center of Excellence will showcase innovative technologies developed by Sempra companies to support today's evolving energy market. The exhibit space will display interactive technologies that improve the delivery of more secure and resilient energy supplies to customers, such as the expansion of natural gas into the electricity mix to support grid stability and integration of digital and meteorological technologies to improve power reliability, as well as virtual reality experiences connected to the Cameron LNG liquefaction-export facility.
Sempra Energy began operating in Texas more than 20 years ago. Most recently, in May 2019, the company acquired a 50% limited-partnership interest in Sharyland Utilities, LLC. Sempra Energy is also the majority owner of Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor), the largest electric transmission and distribution utility in Texas, serving more than 10 million consumers. In 2019, Sempra Energy also supported Oncor's acquisition of InfraREIT, Inc. Through the acquisitions of Oncor, InfraREIT and Sharyland, Sempra Energy has made investments of more than $10 billion in Texas.
Additionally, Sempra Energy's subsidiary Sempra LNG is developing the proposed Port Arthur LNG export project in Jefferson County, Texas. Port Arthur LNG is a potential multibillion-dollar infrastructure development project that will enable the delivery of natural gas sourced from Texas to world markets. The project will also support manufacturing, small businesses and the community by creating thousands of jobs and contributing to the local economy. Sempra LNG develops, builds and invests in natural gas liquefaction facilities and is pursuing the development of five strategically located LNG projects in North America with a goal of delivering 45 million tonnes per annum of clean natural gas, including natural gas sourced from Texas, to the largest world markets.
Sempra Energy's mission is to be North America's premier energy infrastructure company. With more than $60 billion in total assets reported in 2018, the San Diego-based company is the utility holding company with the largest U.S. customer base. The Sempra Energy companies' more than 20,000 employees deliver energy with purpose to approximately 40 million consumers worldwide. The company is focused on the most attractive markets in North America, including California, Texas, Mexico and the LNG export market. Sempra Energy has been consistently recognized for its leadership in diversity and inclusion, and sustainability, and is a member of the S&P 500 Utilities Index and the Dow Jones Utility Index.
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 such as "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 when we discuss our guidance, strategy, plans, goals, vision, mission, 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 any forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties relating to: the greater degree and prevalence of wildfires in California in recent years and the risk that we may be found liable for damages regardless of fault, such as where inverse condemnation applies, and the risk that we may not be able to recover any such costs from insurance, the California wildfire fund or in rates from customers in California or otherwise; actions and the timing of actions, including decisions, investigations, new regulations and issuances of permits and other authorizations and renewal of franchises by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), California Public Utilities Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, California Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Public Utility Commission of Texas, states, cities and counties, and other regulatory and governmental bodies in the U.S. and other countries in which we operate; the success of business development efforts, construction projects, and major acquisitions, divestitures and internal structural changes, including risks in (i) obtaining or maintaining authorizations; (ii) completing construction projects on schedule and budget; (iii) obtaining the consent of partners; (iv) counterparties' financial ability or otherwise to fulfill contractual commitments; (v) winning competitively bid infrastructure projects; (vi) the ability to complete contemplated acquisitions and/or divestitures and the disruptions caused by such efforts; and (vii) the ability to realize anticipated benefits from any of these efforts once completed; the resolution of civil and criminal litigation, regulatory investigations and proceedings, and arbitrations; actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or those of our subsidiaries or to place those ratings on negative outlook and our ability to borrow at favorable interest rates; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and ratepayers; denial of approvals of proposed settlements; delays in, or denial of, regulatory agency authorizations to recover costs in rates from customers or regulatory agency approval for projects required to enhance safety and reliability; moves to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas; 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 harmful materials, cause fires 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), 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; risks posed by actions of third parties who control the operations of our investments; 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; expropriation of assets, the failure to honor the terms of contracts by foreign governments and state-owned entities such as the CFE, and other property disputes; the impact at San Diego Gas & Electric Company on competitive customer rates and reliability of electric transmission and distribution systems due to the growth in distributed and local power generation 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; Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC's (Oncor) ability to eliminate or reduce its quarterly dividends due to regulatory capital requirements and other regulatory and governance commitments, including the determination by a majority of Oncor's independent directors or a minority member director to retain such amounts to meet future requirements; changes in capital markets, energy markets and economic conditions, including the availability of credit; and volatility in foreign currency exchange, interest and inflation rates and commodity prices and our ability to effectively hedge the risk of such volatility; changes in foreign and domestic trade policies and laws, including border tariffs and revisions to or replacement of international trade agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, that may increase our costs or impair our ability to resolve trade disputes; actions of activist shareholders, which could disrupt our operations by, among other things, requiring significant time by management and our board of directors; the impact of federal or state tax reform 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 Sempra Energy has 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 the company's website, 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 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 (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), and Sempra South American Utilities, Sempra North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.
SOURCE Sempra Energy
