SAN DIEGO, June 14, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- San Diego Superior Court Judge Ronald S. Prager today gave final approval to a previously announced settlement resolving the major claims filed against Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) and its two California utilities, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), in class-action litigation related to the Western U.S. energy crisis of 2000-01.
Under the terms of the settlement, which was announced Jan. 4, 2006, Sempra Energy and its utilities vigorously deny any wrongdoing.
"We are pleased that the court has approved the settlement to end this class-action litigation," said Donald E. Felsinger, chairman and chief executive officer of Sempra Energy. "We now can focus firmly on the future -- investing in critically needed energy infrastructure and supplies for California and our nation -- while putting the major pieces of energy-crisis litigation behind us. Additionally, the company already has recorded the financial impact of this settlement in prior reporting periods and our earnings in future years will not be materially impacted by the settlement."
Sempra Energy reported that the after-tax cost to the company of the settlements announced in January 2006 would be approximately $350 million.
Judge Prager is overseeing the distribution of the settlement proceeds to the litigation class members in California.
Today's approval of the Continental Forge and price-reporting class-action cases does not terminate other ongoing energy-crisis-related litigation against Sempra Energy and its affiliates, including some claims by individual plaintiffs. Final approval of the $30 million settlement of the related Nevada class-action lawsuit is expected later this year.
Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2005 revenues of $11.7 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 14,000 employees serve more than 29 million consumers 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: local, regional, national and international 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 markets 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 status of deregulation of retail natural gas and electricity delivery; the timing and success of business development efforts; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the company. 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.