SAN DIEGO, March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today announced that the Sempra Energy Foundation will donate up to $1 million to help small to medium-sized nonprofits in California as they continue to serve critical needs related to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) situation.
"Many nonprofit organizations are faced with unprecedented demand for their services due to the current COVID-19 situation," said Dennis V. Arriola, board chair of the Sempra Energy Foundation, and executive vice president and group president of Sempra Energy. "These grants will help them to continue serving the needs of vulnerable populations who need their support now more than ever."
The grants for California nonprofits will be part of a larger $1.75 million Nonprofit Hardship Fund from the Sempra Energy Foundation that will be made available to charities in the areas of the United States where Sempra Energy and its family of companies operate, including California, Texas and Louisiana.
"The Sempra Energy Foundation has stepped up to help California in a time of great need during this public health crisis," said Elise Buik, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Los Angeles. "I applaud their efforts to help the most vulnerable in our communities."
Sempra Energy's California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) and Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), have also set up funds to support their communities. SDG&E contributed $1 million to launch the San Diego COVID-19 Community Response Fund at the San Diego Foundation. This fund will support nonprofit organizations that provide food, income and rental assistance to those disproportionately affected by the pandemic's economic consequences. Additionally, SoCalGas is donating $1 million to local organizations supporting hunger and workforce relief causes. SDG&E and SoCalGas also are offering support to customers through existing funds at the United Way that offer assistance with utility bill payments for individuals and families in need.
The Sempra Energy Foundation's Nonprofit Hardship Fund will provide grants of up to $50,000 to nonprofit organizations serving populations affected by COVID-19. This could include, among other things: support for the increased volume of services being provided to clients, such as meals for homebound seniors; support for unexpected expenses associated with fulfilling those services; and/or support to sustain operations and services to populations impacted by COVID-19 amid pandemic-related cancellation of major fundraisers.
"It's wonderful to see a San Diego community partner like the Sempra Energy Foundation continue to be helpful and generous at a time when so many people are in a state of uncertainty and in need of help from our nonprofit organizations," said Father Joe Carroll of Father Joe's Villages at St. Vincent de Paul.
Visit the Sempra Energy Foundation website for information about the foundation's Nonprofit Hardship Fund, and to learn how to apply for a grant.
About the Sempra Energy Foundation
The Sempra Energy Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private foundation based in San Diego. The foundation was founded by Sempra Energy. As part of the company's commitment to investing in the communities it serves, the Sempra Energy Foundation and Sempra employees have donated more than $100 million over the past five years.
About Sempra Energy
Sempra Energy's mission is to be North America's premier energy infrastructure company. With more than $65 billion in total assets reported in 2019, 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 over 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. The company was also named one of the "World's Most Admired Companies" for 2020 by Fortune Magazine.
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. 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 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 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 the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, California Public Utilities Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, Public Utility Commission of Texas, regulatory and governmental bodies and jurisdictions in the U.S. and other countries in which we operate; the success of business development efforts, construction projects and major acquisitions and divestitures, including risks in (i) the ability to make a final investment decision and completing construction projects on schedule and budget, (ii) obtaining the consent of partners, (iii) counterparties' financial or other ability to fulfill contractual commitments, (iv) the ability to complete contemplated acquisitions and/or divestitures, and (v) 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 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; the impact of the novel coronavirus on (i) our ability to commence and complete capital projects and obtain regulatory approvals, (ii) our current and prospective counterparties, customers and partners, and (iii) the stability of the capital markets; 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; expropriation of assets, the failure of foreign governments and state-owned entities to honor the terms of contracts, and property disputes; the impact at San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) on competitive customer rates and reliability due to the growth in distributed power generation and from departing retail load resulting from customers transferring to Direct Access, Community Choice Aggregation or other forms of distributed power generation and the 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 and governance requirements and commitments, including by actions of Oncor's independent directors or a minority member director; 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 trade policies, laws and regulations, including 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; the impact of changes to 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 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.
Sempra South American Utilities, Sempra North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as the California utilities, SDG&E or Southern California Gas Company, 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
