SAN DIEGO, Nov. 18, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) today announced that its wholly owned gas storage subsidiary, Pine Prairie Energy Center, LLC, has received a vote of authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to construct and operate its gas storage facility in Evangeline Parish, La.
The FERC certificate grants Pine Prairie Energy Center authorization to operate the facility under Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act, including market-based rate treatment. Pine Prairie Energy Center still requires permits from the state of Louisiana to begin operations.
"We applaud the FERC for moving quickly to permit this critical storage project," said Mark Snell, group president of Sempra Energy Global Enterprises.
"With projected shortfalls for natural gas in North America, storage facilities are becoming increasingly important to help meet high demand, particularly during the winter months."
Pine Prairie is in a strategic location, close to Henry Hub, the nation's largest natural gas trading center, and is expected to become a key component in supporting the commercial functions of power generators, pipelines, utilities, energy merchants and liquefied natural gas receipt terminal operators in the area.
Pine Prairie will develop three salt caverns with a total working capacity of 24 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas, enabling maximum injections of 1.2 Bcf per day and maximum withdrawals of 2.4 Bcf per day. The facility will offer firm storage services as well as interruptible hub services from its eight interstate and three intrastate pipeline interconnects.
Sempra Energy Global Enterprises also announced that another of its projects, Bluewater Gas Storage, LLC, in St. Clair, Mich., has received a Presidential Permit from the FERC to begin international operations. Bluewater Gas Storage, which began operations in May 2004, is regulated by the Michigan Public Service Commission but needed a FERC Presidential Permit to begin sending and receiving natural gas over the Canadian border.
Additionally, Sempra Energy Global Enterprises has acquired the rights to develop a salt-cavern gas storage facility, Liberty Gas Storage, in Calacasieu Parish, La., from HNG Storage.
Sempra Energy Global Enterprises is the umbrella for Sempra Energy's businesses operating in competitive energy and commodity markets. Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2003 revenues of $7.9 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 13,000 employees serve more than 10 million customers in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, South America and Asia.
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. When the company uses words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "may," "would," "should" or similar expressions, or when the company discusses its strategy or plans, the company is making forward-looking statements. 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. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including, among others: national, international, regional and local economic, competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments; actions by the California Public Utilities Commission, the California State Legislature, the California Department of Water Resources, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other regulatory bodies in the United States and other countries; capital market conditions, inflation rates, interest rates and exchange rates; energy and trading markets, including the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices; the availability of natural gas; weather conditions and conservation efforts; war and terrorist attacks; business, regulatory, environmental, and legal decisions and requirements; the pace of deregulation of retail natural gas and electricity delivery; the timing and success of business development efforts; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the company's control. These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that are available through the EDGAR system without charge at its Web site, www.sec.gov and on the company's Web site, www.sempra.com.
Sempra Energy Trading, Sempra Energy International, Sempra Energy LNG, Sempra Energy Resources, Sempra Energy Solutions and Sempra Energy Financial are not the same companies as the utilities, SDG&E/SoCalGas, and are not regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission.