The company becomes the first gas-only utility in the U.S. to issue public green bonds

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has successfully issued $600 million of 30-year fixed-rate "Green First Mortgage Bonds," to directly support the company's sustainability investments. SoCalGas issued the bonds under Sempra's Sustainable Financing Framework and is the first gas-only utility in the United States to issue a green bond.

The net proceeds from the sale of these fixed-rate green bonds are planned to help finance and/or refinance sustainability investments in any of three categories: pollution prevention and control, green buildings and clean transportation. Eligible projects in those categories may include retrofitting and replacing older pipelines to reduce fugitive methane emissions and ready them for throughput of clean fuels such as hydrogen, advancing fugitive emissions elimination technologies, investing in LEED-certified green buildings, and investment in infrastructure to support clean transportation.

"Sustainability informs everything we do, whether it's investing in world class safety, accelerating the transition to clean energy and helping to meet the state's ambitious climate goals, or championing diversity and equity," said Jawaad Malik, vice president of strategy and sustainability, and chief environmental officer for SoCalGas. "We're pleased that investors recognize the value not just in investing in our sustainable goals and initiatives, but also in SoCalGas' track record of innovation and its position as a leader as we work toward our aim to have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045."

In 2021, SoCalGas became the first and largest natural gas utility in the United States to announce its aim to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. Earlier this year, SoCalGas announced its Sustainability Strategy, putting words into action and setting measurable objectives towards its goals. The inaugural green bonds will build upon SoCalGas' position as a leader in sustainability and innovation.

Just last month, SoCalGas was awarded the top "Business Transformation Award" at the 2022 Responsible Business Awards, hosted by Reuters Events, with the company being recognized for having established truly transformative sustainability priorities with the potential to create impact at scale in the energy sector and beyond.

The company's sustainability efforts cover a broad range of goals and initiatives aimed at achieving a safe, reliable, resilient, affordable, and equitable energy transition to net zero.

This year alone SoCalGas:

• Announced plans to develop the Angeles Link, a dedicated clean hydrogen energy infrastructure system for delivering clean, reliable energy to the Los Angeles Basin to serve hard-to-electrify sectors of the economy such as electric generation, heavy-duty transportation, and heavy industry and manufacturing;
• Plans to unveil a renewable hydrogen microgrid and home, the [H2] Innovation Experience, which showcases the resiliency and reliability of a renewable hydrogen microgrid that can power neighborhoods;
• Reported that in 2021 it reduced fugitive methane emissions by 37% relative to a 2015 baseline – surpassing the state's goal of a 20% emissions reduction by 2025 and nearing the state's goal of a 40% reduction by 2030;
• Announced a proposed collaboration with the University of California, Irvine, to demonstrate how electrolytic hydrogen can be safely blended into existing natural gas infrastructure on the university's campus, an important next step in establishing a statewide injection standard for renewable hydrogen; and
• Was awarded "Leading Private Fleet" by the 2022 Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, for becoming one of the first utilities in the nation to begin transitioning its over-the-road fleet with the purchase of 50 Toyota Mirai fuel cell electric vehicles, the conversion of 200 new Ford F-250 pickup trucks to renewable natural gas and beginning the installation of 1,500 electric vehicle chargers at 67 company facilities.

For more information about SoCalGas' sustainability efforts, visit https://www.socalgas.com/sustainability.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas^® is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, and increasingly renewable gas service to 21.8 million consumers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California. Gas delivered through the company's pipelines will continue to play a key role in California's clean energy transition—providing electric grid reliability and supporting wind and solar energy deployment. 

SoCalGas' mission is to build the cleanest, safest and most innovative energy company in America. In support of that mission, SoCalGas aspires to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations and delivery of energy by 2045 and to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply to core customers with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for customers. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE), an energy infrastructure company based in San Diego. 

For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook. 

This press release contains statements that 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. Future results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement. 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," "intends," "anticipates," "contemplates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "in process," " construct," "develop," "opportunity," "initiative," "target," "outlook," "optimistic," "maintain," "continue," "progress," "advance," "goal," "aim," "commit," or similar expressions, or when we discuss our guidance, priorities, strategy, goals, vision, mission, opportunities, projections, intentions or expectations.

Factors, among others, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement include risks and uncertainties relating to: decisions, investigations, regulations, issuances or revocations of permits or other authorizations, renewals of franchises, and other actions by (i) the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S. Department of Energy, and other governmental and regulatory bodies and (ii) the U.S. and states, counties, cities and other jurisdictions therein in which we do business; the success of business development efforts and construction projects, including risks in (i) completing construction projects or other transactions on schedule and budget, (ii) realizing anticipated benefits from any of these efforts if completed, and (iii) obtaining the consent or approval of partners or other third parties, including governmental and regulatory bodies; civil and criminal litigation, regulatory inquiries, investigations, arbitrations and other proceedings, including those related to the natural gas leak at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility; changes to laws and regulations; cybersecurity threats, including by state and state-sponsored actors, by ransomware or other attacks on our systems or the systems of third-parties with which we conduct business, including to the energy grid or other energy infrastructure, all of which have become more pronounced due to recent geopolitical events, such as the war in Ukraine; failure of our counterparties to honor their contracts and commitments; our ability to borrow money on favorable terms or otherwise and meet our debt service obligations, including due to (i) actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or place those ratings on negative outlook and (ii) rising interest rates and inflation; the impact on our cost of capital and the affordability of customer rates due to volatility in inflation, interest rates and commodity prices and our ability to effectively hedge these risks; the impact of energy and climate policies, laws, rules and disclosures, as well as related goals and actions of companies in our industry, including actions to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas, any deterioration of or increased uncertainty in the political or regulatory environment for California natural gas distribution companies and the risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets; the pace of the development and adoption of new technologies in the energy sector, including those designed to support governmental and private party energy and climate goals, and our ability to efficiently incorporate them into our business; weather, natural disasters, pandemics, accidents, equipment failures, explosions, acts of terrorism, information system outages or other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities or systems, cause the release of harmful materials, cause fires or subject us to liability for damages, fines and penalties, some of which may not be recoverable through regulatory mechanisms, may be disputed or not covered by insurers, or may impact our ability to obtain satisfactory levels of affordable insurance; the availability of natural gas and natural gas storage capacity, including disruptions caused by limitations on the withdrawal of natural gas from storage facilities; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on capital projects, regulatory approvals and the execution of our operations; changes in tax and trade policies, laws and regulations, including tariffs, revisions to international trade agreements and sanctions, such as those that have been imposed and that may be imposed in the future in connection with the war in Ukraine, which may increase our costs, reduce our competitiveness, impact our ability to do business with certain counterparties, or impair our ability to resolve trade disputes; and other uncertainties, some of which are difficult to predict and beyond our control.

These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that the company 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 Sempra's website, www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements.

Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra Texas, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.P.I. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company or Southern California Gas Company, and Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra Texas, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the CPUC.

SOURCE Southern California Gas Company