California’s SoCalGas Focused on Costs Amid Energy Transition

By Bloomberg

May 26, 2023

image is BloomburgMedia_RVA1ZTT0AFB401_28-05-2023_06-32-45_638208288000000000.jpg

A cherry picker truck in front of electricity transmission towers at the Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) Honor Rancho underground natural gas storage facility in Santa Clarita, California, U.S., on Friday, April 22, 2022. U.S. natural gas prices have almost doubled this year to the highest since the shale revolution more than a decade ago, driving up energy costs and helping fuel the fastest inflation in 40 years.

(Bloomberg) -- Sempra’s Southern California Gas utility is concentrating on making energy bills affordable after natural gas rates soared last winter amid cold weather and energy shortages.

“We are deeply focused on managing and supporting energy affordability for our customers,” SoCalGas Chief Executive Officer Scott Drury said Friday on Bloomberg Television.

Southern California wholesale gas prices spiked in December due to colder-than-normal weather, reduced pipeline imports and low gas storage levels. The skyrocketing costs prompted California Governor Gavin Newsom to ask federal energy regulators to investigate the elevated rates. SoCalGas, the largest gas utility in California, said its rates declined significantly as supplies increased in recent months.

Drury also said SoCalGas has the “most economically efficient method of decarbonizing California” using its existing infrastructure. “One of the most important things we can do to enable the energy transition in an economically efficient way is to ensure that we have ample infrastructure and innovation.”

By Mark Chediak, Matthew Miller , Jon Erlichman