SoCalGas Announces Suspension of Service Disconnections as Part of Company's COVID-19 Response

Utility committed to the continued safe and reliable delivery of natural gas to customers

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Mar 13, 2020, 14:15 ET

LOS ANGELES, March 13, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced a suspension of service disconnections to any customers who are having a hard time paying their bill. This policy will remain in effect until further notice. Customers are encouraged to call 1-877-238-0092 to speak with a representative about their bill. SoCalGas customer service is available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.

"We understand that our customers may be worried about paying their upcoming natural gas bill at this time," said Paul Goldstein, vice president of customer services at SoCalGas. "We want to help ease their concerns and continue to provide the reliable natural gas service they depend on to heat their homes and hot water and cook their food."

The health, safety and wellness of our employees and the customers we serve is foundational to our company. SoCalGas continues to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation with local, state and federal health agencies, as well as monitoring and implementing guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition to the temporary suspension of service disconnections, SoCalGas is taking precautionary measures including:

Asking customers a series a of health-based questions before entering the home
Instructing employees to keep a safe distance from anyone self-quarantined or sick
Reminding employees to stay home if they are sick and encouraging work from home and other social distancing practices.
Implementing company travel, visitor, meeting and event restrictions
Enhanced cleaning of SoCalGas facilities and personal hygiene practices
Providing SoCalGas branch offices with hand sanitizer for customer use
For customers who do not feel comfortable visiting SoCalGas Branch Payment Offices, we offer other payment options

Additional information about SoCalGas' response to COVID-19 is available here.

About SoCalGas

Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, clean and increasingly renewable gas service to 21.8 million customers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California, where more than 90 percent of residents use natural gas for heating, hot water, cooking, drying clothes or other uses. Gas delivered through the company's pipelines also plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians— about 45 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants.

SoCalGas' vision is to be the cleanest gas utility in North America, delivering affordable and increasingly renewable energy to its customers. In support of that vision, SoCalGas is committed to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for our customers. From 2014 through 2018, the company invested nearly $6.5 billion to upgrade and modernize its pipeline system to enhance safety and reliability. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.

SOURCE Southern California Gas Company