SAN DIEGO, March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) today announced that the Sempra Energy Foundation will donate up to $500,000 to help small to medium-sized nonprofits in Texas 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 Texas 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.
"Texans from all walks of life are coming together to defeat COVID-19 and its economic impact," said Texas State Senator Kelly Hancock, the Chairman of the Senate Business & Commerce Committee. "I appreciate the Sempra Energy Foundation for stepping up to help local Texas nonprofits and communities with resources to recover from the impact of the coronavirus. I am confident that strong leadership from Texas citizens, employers, and charitable foundations will expedite the recovery process and get our communities and economies back on track."
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.
"Sempra continues to show its generosity and commitment to standing in solidarity with some of the neediest members of the Southeast Texas community," said Dan Maher, president and CEO of the Southeast Texas Food Bank. "After Hurricane Harvey's impact, Sempra showed its great corporate spirit and rallied around our community in a substantial way. It has been proactive in working with us to address community needs ever since. So, while it is not surprising that Sempra would wish to be a partner as we respond to the unique challenges of the coronavirus, it is truly impressive that at a moment when philanthropy is expected to dip because of the national scope of this crisis, Sempra has risen up to make a huge investment in the health and well-being of children in Southeast Texas."
Sempra Energy began operating in Texas more than 20 years ago. 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 multibillion-dollar infrastructure investment 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 and builds natural gas liquefaction facilities and is pursuing the development of five strategically located LNG projects in North America with a goal of delivering up to 45 million tonnes per annum of clean natural gas to the largest world markets, which would make Sempra Energy one of North America's largest developers of LNG-export infrastructure facilities.
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.
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