Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E) and the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) jointly released a positive outlook for summer energy supplies even with the continued outage of the 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs). Earlier in the spring there were concerns about strained natural gas supplies and other energy infrastructure due to the absence of Songs’ baseload power in Southern California (see Daily GPI, May 7). Besides bringing back in service two mothballed natural gas-fired generation units along the Southern California coast at Huntington Beach, SDG&E’s high-voltage Sunrise Powerlink transmission line is expected to be in service soon, as well as a 230kV transmission loop in southern Orange County, Barre-Del Amo and Barre-Ellis No. 2 lines. SDG&E and CAISO still characterized this summer as “challenging” from a power supply perspective, noting that if the region experiences a prolonged heat wave, calls for conservation will be inevitable. More than 283 MW of new generation capacity came online the second half of 2011, and CAISO expects another 923 MW to be added this year by July 1, but most of its if renewable-based wind and solar projects that are intermittent and require backup from gas-fired and hydroelectric sources.
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Articles from Sempra
California Firms Feuding Over Proposed Compression Fuel Services
Traditional allies find themselves knocking heads at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) over a proposal by Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) utility to establish a special compression tariff and services for natural gas vehicle (NGV) fueling stations. Seal Beach, CA-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is alleging that the SoCalGas plan is anti-competitive.
SoCalGas (Again) Gets OK for $1B Smart Meter Program
For the third time, California regulators Thursday gave the green light to Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) to embark on a proposed $1 billion, multi-year transition to an advanced metering system consistent with what all of the state’s other private-sector utilities have been doing the past five years.
Cameron LNG Gets Export OK for FTA Countries
Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG LLC has joined the ranks of liquefied natural gas (LNG) export proposals that have received authorization to send liquefied gas to the limited number of countries that are party to a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States.
California Regulators Stop Part of $1.9B SDG&E Transmission Line
In a highly unprecedented move, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Tuesday ordered Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E) to stop the use of helicopters until their safe use can be assured in the utility’s massive $1.9 billion Sunrise Powerlink transmission line project, the combination utility’s largest infrastructure project in four decades.
SoCalGas Joins Alternative Fuel Research Effort
Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) unit said Wednesday it has joined a San Diego-based low-emission alternative fuels company, Oberon Fuels, in a research and development (R&D) effort centered on a potential transportation fuel derived from natural gas called “Dimethyl Ether (DME).”
SDG&E Seeks OK for 450 MW of Gas-Fired Peaking
Anticipating more unevenness in its electricity mix in meeting California’s 33% renewable goal by 2020, Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. (SDG&E) filed Monday for state regulatory approval of three new power purchase contracts covering up to nearly 450 MW collectively from separate natural gas-fired peaking projects.
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Former Fluor Corp. CEO Alan Boeckmann has been elected to the Sempra Energy board of directors, bringing a background in international business management in the engineering/construction sector. Boeckmann is a director of BHP Billiton and a board member of the National Petroleum Council. He also serves as the nonexecutive chairman of the board at Fluor, where he held several senior management and operating positions before becoming CEO in 2002.
Correction
Due to a resubmission of data, the amount of natural gas marketed by RBS Sempra reported in NGI’s 1Q2010 Top North American Gas Marketers Ranking (see NGI, June 14) has been increased to 9.50 Bcf/d from the previously reported 6.40 Bcf/d. As a result, the total gas volume marketed by the 26 companies participating in the survey has been corrected to 147.69 Bcf/d from the previously reported 144.59 Bcf/d.
SoCalGas Dusts Off Safety Tips Following Mild Quake
Following a mild 4.4 magnitude earthquake that hit before dawn Tuesday, centered in the eastern part of Los Angeles County, Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) utility issued quake preparedness tips to its more than 5 million customers.