Curtain

California regulators last Friday quietly closed the curtain on the multi-year natural gas transmission and storage case for Sempra Energy’s two major utilities, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E). Handled as a consent agenda item without any discussion, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) unanimously approved a utilities-stakeholders settlement allocating nearly $2 billion between the two utilities.

In what could be a final curtain call for the investigations and lawsuits that have littered the last five years in the wake of California’s 2000-2001 energy crisis, two state regulatory administrative law judges (ALJ) earlier in the month released a proposed decision recommending that regulators drop two investigations of Sempra Energy and its major utilities regarding alleged California border wholesale natural gas price manipulations. To date, Sempra has settled almost all of the allegations in court and regulatory agreements.

In what could be a final curtain call for the investigations and lawsuits that have littered the last five years in the wake of California’s 2000-2001 energy crisis, two state regulatory administrative law judges (ALJ) earlier in the month released a proposed decision recommending that regulators drop two investigations of Sempra Energy and its major utilities regarding alleged California border wholesale natural gas price manipulations. To date, Sempra has settled almost all of the allegations in court and regulatory agreements.

As the curtain slowly falls on gas supply from the Gulf ofMexico Continental Shelf, the deep-water waits in the wings.Canadian producers are scripting their role on the U.S stage. Andthe Alaskan gas play’s Lower 48 audience can’t buy tickets to theshow for about a decade.

As the curtain slowly falls on gas supply from the Gulf ofMexico Continental Shelf, the deep-water waits in the wings.Canadian producers are scripting their role on the U.S stage. Andthe Alaskan gas play’s Lower 48 audience can’t buy tickets to theshow for about a decade.