SoCalGas Continues to Deliver on its Commitment to Promptly Review and Process Reimbursements

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Mar 25, 2016, 03:22 ET

LOS ANGELES, March 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today mailed more than 4,900 reimbursement checks, totaling $6 million to temporarily relocated residents. To date, the company has reviewed and processed more than 24,000 reimbursements totaling more than $48 million, delivering on a commitment it made to help residents who relocated return to their normal lives as seamlessly as possible.

SoCalGas is working around-the-clock to respond to every inquiry from every resident and to process reimbursement requests as expeditiously as possible. For the small number of relocated residents who may be experiencing difficulty with the reimbursement process, here are a few simple steps to take to minimize potential delays with reimbursement or claims requests.

Review the Claims Checklist. Verify all the information and documentation necessary is included in the request.
Verify all information on the Reimbursement Form is accurate and complete. Residents need to make sure that ALL of the information on the reimbursement form is completely filled in. Any missing information can delay the processing of the reimbursement.
Make sure all information is legible.
Duplicate claims can slow the reimbursement process. Please recognize claims/reimbursement processing may take several weeks given the steps involved. Residents with questions about the status of their claims may contact their Community Liaison. If a resident does not have an assigned Community Liaison, he or she can call us at 818-435-7707 or email us at [email protected].

Cleaning Continues

SoCalGas has completed assessments on more than 300 homes reporting the presence of brown spots believed to be related to the once-leaking well at its Aliso Canyon storage facility. Cleaning has been completed at more than two dozen houses and 90 other homes have been scheduled. As homes continue to be assessed, additional cleanings will be scheduled. Earlier this month, SoCalGas completed cleaning private schools, and community playgrounds near the facility. To date, no brown spots associated with the Aliso Canyon storage facility have been identified indoors.

Sampling results reviewed by both a toxicologist and a medical expert suggest that the brown spots do not pose a health risk. However, SoCalGas will continue to assess properties reported to have brown spots present and will provide cleaning services for those homes that have brown spots after that assessment.

Since October 30, 2015, regulatory air quality and health agencies, have analyzed more than 4,700 outdoor air samples in the Porter Ranch area. These experts consistently report that the data indicate the air quality in the community is at typical, pre-leak levels, similar to elsewhere in the Los Angeles basin.

Throughout the incident, air samples for benzene and other compounds were found to be at, or near levels seen in the rest of the county, and below levels of concern. Furthermore, third party indoor air screening of more than 70 homes showed typical levels of methane, and did not detect mercaptans or other sulfur compounds associated with natural gas at any levels. The once-leaking well has now been confirmed sealed for more than a month.

Still, since the leak began, and in response to concerns expressed by residents, SoCalGas has installed more than 26,000 air filtration systems in nearly 9,000 homes, schools and businesses.

Providing dedicated customer service and helping residents who relocated return to their normal lives as seamlessly as possible are commitments SoCalGas made to emphasize the company's dedication to restoring trust and continuing support for the community.

About Southern California Gas Co: Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has been delivering clean, safe and reliable natural gas to its customers for more than 145 years. It is the nation's largest natural gas distribution utility, providing service to 21.6 million consumers connected through 5.9 million meters in more than 500 communities. The company's service territory encompasses approximately 20,000 square miles throughout central and Southern California, from Visalia to the Mexican border. SoCalGas is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.

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. These statements can be identified by words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "assumes," "depends," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "goals," "outlook," "maintain" or similar expressions, or discussions of guidance, strategies, plans, goals, opportunities, projections, initiatives, objectives or intentions. 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: local, regional, and national economic, competitive, political, legislative, legal, and regulatory conditions, decisions, and developments; actions and the timing of actions, including general rate case decisions, new regulations, issuances of permits to construct, operate and maintain facilities and equipment and to use land, franchise agreements, and licenses for operation, by the California Public Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department of Energy, California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California Energy Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, California Air Resources Board, South Coast Air Quality Management District, cities and counties, and other regulatory, governmental and environmental bodies in the United States; the timing and success of business development efforts and construction, maintenance and capital projects, including risks in obtaining, maintaining or extending permits, licenses, certificates and other authorizations on a timely basis and risks in obtaining adequate and competitive financing for such projects; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and ratepayers and delays in regulatory agency authorization to recover costs in rates from customers; the availability of electric power and natural gas, and natural gas pipeline and storage capacity, including disruptions caused by failures in the North American transmission grid, moratoriums on the ability to withdraw natural gas from or inject natural gas into storage facilities, pipeline explosions and equipment failures; energy markets; the timing and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices, the impact on the value of our natural gas storage assets from low natural gas prices, low volatility of natural gas prices and the inability to procure favorable long-term contracts for natural gas storage services; the resolution of civil and criminal litigation and regulatory investigations; risks that our partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill their contractual commitments; capital markets conditions, including the availability of credit and the liquidity of our investments, and inflation and interest rates; cybersecurity threats to the energy grid, natural gas storage and pipeline infrastructure, the information and systems used to operate our businesses and the confidentiality of our proprietary information and the personal information of our customers and employees; terrorist attacks that threaten system operations and critical infrastructure; wars; weather conditions, natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, equipment failures and other events that may disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, cause the release of greenhouse gasses and harmful emissions, and subject us to third-party liability for property damage or personal injuries some of which may not be covered by insurance; the inability or determination not to enter into long-term supply and sales agreements or long-term firm capacity agreements due to insufficient market interest, unattractive pricing or other factors; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control.

These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that the company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forecasts or projections or other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company