Plan builds on commitment to fire preparedness and incorporates new approach to reduce both wildfire risk and customer impacts
SAN DIEGO, Feb. 7, 2020 – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has completed its comprehensive 2020 Wildfire Mitigation Plan (the Plan), a strategic three-year guide to help reduce the potential for infrastructure-related fires and help protect the safety of SDG&E’s customers, workforce and the communities it serves.
The Plan, submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission on Feb. 7, highlights a continued commitment by SDG&E to systematically and strategically harden its infrastructure against extreme weather conditions, and improve its data analytics and situational capabilities to more quickly and effectively make critical operational decisions.
The plan also incorporates a new circuit-based approach to system hardening in the High Fire-Threat District (HFTD) that aims to reduce both the risk of wildfires and potential Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) impact on customers. SDG&E is focused on implementing wildfire mitigation solutions that help reduce ignition potential and keep critical facilities and customers energized during PSPS.
“At its core, this plan is about protecting people and property. We are focused on how we keep our communities safe while reducing the customer impacts that occur during public safety power shutoffs,” said Caroline Winn, chief operating officer for SDG&E.
Since 2007, SDG&E has invested more than $1.5 billion in system hardening, situational awareness, and customer outreach and communications programs to help prevent catastrophic wildfires. These initiatives are an example of SDG&E’s commitment to customer and community safety that have helped make SDG&E a recognized leader in wildfire safety.
SDG&E’s wildfire mitigation plan has been reorganized into 10 categories. Each category includes strategies and initiatives that are either a continuation and enhancement of previous efforts or new to the 2020 Plan.
To learn more about SDG&E’s commitment to wildfire preparedness and safety over the past decade, please click here.
SDG&E is an innovative San Diego-based energy company that provides clean, safe and reliable energy to better the lives of the people it serves in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The company is committed to creating a sustainable future by providing its electricity from renewable sources; modernizing natural gas pipelines; accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles; supporting numerous non-profit partners; and investing in innovative technologies to ensure the reliable operation of the region’s infrastructure for generations to come. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE). For more information, visit SDGEnews.com or connect with SDG&E on Twitter (@SDGE), Instagram (@SDGE) and Facebook.
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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 such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "assumes," "depends," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "outlook," "maintain," or similar expressions or when we discuss our guidance, strategy, plans, goals, vision, mission, 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.
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: the greater degree and prevalence of wildfires in California in recent years and the risk that we may be found liable for damages regardless of fault, such as where inverse condemnation applies, and risk that we may not be able to recover any such costs from insurance, the California wildfire fund or in rates from customers in California or otherwise; actions and the timing of actions, including decisions, investigations, new regulations and issuances of permits and other authorizations and renewal of franchises by the California Public Utilities Commission, U.S. Department of Energy, California Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, states, cities and counties, and other regulatory and governmental bodies in the United States and other countries in which we operate; the success of business development efforts and construction projects, including risks in (i) obtaining or maintaining authorizations; (ii) completing construction projects on schedule and budget; (iii) obtaining the consent of partners; (iv) counterparties’ financial ability or otherwise to fulfill contractual commitments; (v) winning competitively bid infrastructure projects; and (vi) 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; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and ratepayers; denial of approvals of proposed settlements; delays in, or denial of, regulatory agency authorizations to recover costs in rates from customers or regulatory agency approval for projects required to enhance safety and reliability; moves to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas; weather conditions, natural disasters, accidents, equipment failures, computer system outages, explosions, terrorist attacks and other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, cause the release of harmful materials, cause fires and subject us to third-party 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; the impact on reliability of SDG&E’s electric transmission and distribution system due to increased amount and variability of power supply from renewable energy sources; the impact at SDG&E on competitive customer rates and reliability of electric transmission and distribution systems due to the growth in distributed and local power generation and from possible departing retail load resulting from customers transferring to Direct Access and Community Choice Aggregation or other forms of distributed and local power generation and the potential risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets and contractual obligations; changes in capital markets, energy markets and economic conditions, including the availability of credit; volatility in interest and inflation rates and commodity prices and our ability to effectively hedge the risk of such volatility; the impact of federal or state tax reform 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 at www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. 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 South American Utilities, Sempra North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Oncor) and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) or Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), 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.