Between December
2023 and March 2024, customers
who sign up will receive a text message when there is a 20% or more
increase in the monthly natural gas commodity cost, which impacts a
portion of their bills
LOS
ANGELES, Nov. 14, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern
California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today introduced an optional customer
text message called the Natural Gas Price Notice. Customers who
sign up will receive a text message from SoCalGas when there is a
20 percent or more increase in the monthly natural gas commodity
cost – which impacts a portion of their bills. The 20 percent or
more increase is based on the average of the last three winter
(November to March) seasons' monthly natural gas commodity prices.
Starting Nov. 14, customers can
complete the sign-up form to receive the Natural Gas Price Notices
from December 2023 through
March 2024, as applicable.
"We're excited to be rolling out this new resource for our
customers to help them make informed decisions about their energy
usage this winter," said Gillian Wright, Senior Vice President
and Chief Customer Officer. "While the U.S. Energy Information
Administration is predicting a milder winter ahead of us, we
continue to encourage customers to take advantage of the tools and
options provided by SoCalGas to manage energy consumption and make
energy-efficient home improvements to help lower bills."
Customers can learn more and sign up for the Natural Gas Price
Notice at socalgas.com/NotifyMe or through My Account and will
receive a confirmation text message once their sign-up form is
submitted.
SoCalGas does not set the price for natural gas. Rather, natural
gas prices fluctuate based on national and regional markets.
SoCalGas purchases natural gas in those markets on behalf of
residential and small business customers, and the cost of buying
that gas is billed to those customers with no markup, meaning
SoCalGas does not earn additional profits from the sale of natural
gas or higher supply prices.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a
combination of out-of-state natural gas supply constraints,
combined with early and persistent cold weather conditions across
the West and low storage inventories in the western region, drove
up commodity prices last winter. This October, the EIA reported
that temperatures were expected to be warmer than last winter,
which was unusually cold.
In addition to approving SoCalGas' new text message
notification, the California Public Utilities Commission
(CPUC) voted in August to increase the maximum storage level
allowed at the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility from 41.16
billion cubic feet (bcf) to 68.6 bcf, "to enhance energy resiliency
and protect ratepayers in Southern
California from potential volatile wholesale natural gas
prices this upcoming winter." It also voted to lift limits on when
Aliso Canyon could be used to meet customer demand.
The CPUC also continues to consider a request from SoCalGas to
give customers earlier access to state climate credits to assist
with winter bills, by accelerating delivery of those credits from
April to February.
SoCalGas has a suite of programs and services that can help
customers manage their natural gas usage to help save energy and
money.
Eligible customers may sign up for a Level Pay
Plan (LPP), for example, which averages their annual natural
gas use and costs over 12 months. There are also assistance
programs for eligible customers who are experiencing
hardships.
SoCalGas's Ways to Save tool may also help customers with
energy savings options through a personalized savings plan that
offers a household energy analysis, customized energy-efficiency
recommendations, bill comparisons, and energy usage comparisons
that could help save on natural gas bills. Customers can also sign
up for weekly Bill Tracker Alerts to monitor natural gas
consumption, take steps to reduce usage, avoid bill surprises, and
more.
For more information about SoCalGas' new Natural Gas Price
Notice, visit socalgas.com/NotifyMe.
About SoCalGas
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 over 21 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 infrastructure 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 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 forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about 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 otherwise.
In this press release, forward-looking statements can be
identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "intend,"
"anticipate," "contemplate," "plan," "estimate," "project,"
"forecast," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may,"
"can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "in process,"
"construct," "develop," "opportunity," "initiative," "target,"
"outlook," "optimistic," "poised," "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: decisions, investigations,
inquiries, regulations, denials or revocations of permits,
consents, approvals or other authorizations, renewals of
franchises, and other actions by the (i) California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S. Department of Energy, U.S.
Internal Revenue Service and other governmental and regulatory
bodies and (ii) U.S. and states, counties, cities and other
jurisdictions therein where 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 third-party
consents and approvals; macroeconomic trends or other factors that
could change our capital expenditure plans and their potential
impact on rate base or other growth; litigation, arbitrations and
other proceedings, and changes to laws and regulations, including
those related to tax and trade policy; cybersecurity threats,
including by state and state-sponsored actors, of ransomware or
other attacks on our systems or the systems of third parties with
which we conduct business, including the energy grid or other
energy infrastructure, all of which continue to become more
pronounced; the availability, uses, sufficiency, and cost of
capital resources and our ability to borrow money on favorable
terms and meet our obligations, including due to (i) actions by
credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or place
those ratings on negative outlook, (ii) instability in the capital
markets, or (iii) rising interest rates and inflation; failure of
our counterparties to honor their contracts and commitments; the
impact on affordability of our customer rates and our cost of
capital and on our ability to pass through higher costs to
customers due to (i) volatility in inflation, interest rates and
commodity prices and (ii) the cost of the clean energy transition
in California; the impact of
climate and sustainability policies, laws, rules, regulations,
disclosures and trends, including actions to reduce or eliminate
reliance on natural gas, increased uncertainty in the political or
regulatory environment for California natural gas distribution companies,
the risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets, and our ability to
incorporate new technologies; weather, natural disasters,
pandemics, accidents, equipment failures, explosions, terrorism,
information system outages or other events that disrupt our
operations, damage our facilities or systems, cause the release of
harmful materials or fires or subject us to liability for damages,
fines and penalties, some of which may not be recoverable through
regulatory mechanisms or insurance 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 failures in the pipeline system or
limitations on the withdrawal of natural gas from storage
facilities; 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 Infrastructure Partners, Sempra
Texas, 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
Infrastructure Partners, Sempra Texas, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas
Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the
CPUC.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company