SAN DIEGO, June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today released its latest annual corporate responsibility report, detailing the company's sustainable business strategy, goals and results over the past year.

The 2013 report, entitled "Achieving Balance," describes how the company is meeting increasing demand for cleaner energy, responding to customer needs and planning for the future.  

"At Sempra Energy, we are successful when we develop and deliver energy that is safe, clean, reliable and affordable," said Debra L. Reed, Sempra Energy's chairman and chief executive officer. "This report describes our responsible use of resources; our focus on building relationships with stakeholders; and our continuing efforts to adapt to changes in our industry."

Highlights from the 2013 report include:

• Emissions: The Sempra Energy family of companies' 2013 carbon-dioxide emissions rate was approximately 40-percent below the U.S. national average, at 708 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour of electricity generated.
• Renewable energy:  Through its subsidiary Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, Sempra Energy has developed nearly 1,400 megawatts of renewable energy, with a goal to reach more than 2,000 megawatts by 2018.
• Safety: The Sempra Energy companies achieved a consolidated employee recordable incident rate of 2.41 cases per 100 full-time workers in 2013, well below the companies' target of 2.66 cases per 100 full-time workers.
• Reliability: SDG&E continued to strengthen its electric distribution system. A typical SDG&E customer now experiences only one outage every two years.
• Diversity and inclusion: Fifty-six percent of Sempra Energy's U.S. workforce is composed of ethnic minorities.
• Innovation: Southern California Gas Co. introduced four prototype natural-gas vehicles, announced a $1 million innovation fund and received permission to provide compression services for natural gas fueling stations. 

Sempra Energy's corporate responsibility report is available online at sempra.com/responsibility.

Sempra Energy has four principal subsidiaries: Southern California Gas Co., San Diego Gas & Electric, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power and Sempra International. San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas Co. are regulated utilities that provide electricity and natural gas service to more than 20 million California consumers. Sempra U.S. Gas & Power has solar, wind and natural gas-fueled power plants in the U.S. and also owns natural gas storage and pipeline facilities, as well as distribution utilities. Sempra International develops, builds and operates energy infrastructure assets and distributes electricity and natural gas to customers in Mexico, Chile and Peru.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2013 revenues of approximately $10.5 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' serve more than 31 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," "intends," "depends," "should," "could," "would," "will," "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.  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, 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, California Air Resources Board, and other regulatory, governmental and environmental bodies in the United States and other countries in which we operate; capital markets conditions, including the availability of credit and the liquidity of our investments; the timing and success of business development efforts and construction, maintenance and capital projects, including risks in obtaining permits, licenses, certificates and other authorizations on a timely basis and risks in obtaining adequate and competitive financing for such projects; inflation, interest and exchange rates; the impact of benchmark interest rates, generally Moody's A-rated utility bond yields, on our California utilities' cost of capital; 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 and the decommissioning of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS); weather conditions, natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, and conservation efforts; 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; risks that 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; wars, terrorist attacks that threaten system operations and critical infrastructure, and cybersecurity threats to the energy grid and the confidentiality of proprietary information and the personal information of customers;  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 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 San Diego Gas & Electric Company'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; 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.

Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statement. 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 Energy