LOS ANGELES, Feb. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced it has reached an agreement with the Los Angeles City Attorney to provide residents who temporarily relocated as a result of the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak more time to transition back to their homes.
SoCalGas will now offer residents who had chosen to relocate to short-term temporary housing (such as hotels) up to eight days/seven nights in their temporary housing after the state's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) confirms that the leak has stopped. This provides relocated residents with more flexibility than under the temporary relocation plan adopted last December, approved by the City Attorney and the Los Angeles Superior Court, which allowed for 48 hours to transition back home.
SoCalGas will continue to honor the terms of leases for those who opted for longer-term housing and for all residents relocated to apartments or single family homes, SoCalGas will reimburse moving expenses up to $500.00. Relocated residents who have special circumstances, specifically disabilities or functional needs that may require additional arrangements, and residents relocated with similar extraordinary circumstances, will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Lastly, SoCalGas will reimburse reasonable mileage expenses through the rest of the school year for residents who reenrolled their children in schools outside the Porter Ranch area.
"After listening to the community, SoCalGas and the City Attorney's office have come to an agreement that we both believe is reasonable and will now provide residents with eight days to return to their homes. The start of the transition period will begin after DOGGR confirms that the leak has stopped," said Gillian Wright, vice president of customer services for SoCalGas. "We are glad to offer additional time to help make relocated residents' transitions back home smoother."
SoCalGas expects to stop the leak by the end of February, if not sooner. In the meantime, residents impacted by the leak can find information about services available to them at:
- www.AlisoUpdates.com
- 1-818-435-7707
- SoCalGas Community Resource Center, located at 19731 Rinaldi Street, Northridge 91326
About SoCalGas: Southern California Gas Co.
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," "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, national and international economic, competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments; actions and the timing of actions, including issuances of permits to construct and licenses for operation, by the California Public Utilities Commission, California State Legislature, U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, California Energy Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, 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; energy markets, including the timing and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices, and the impact of any protracted reduction in oil and natural gas prices from historical averages; 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; delays in the timing of costs incurred and the timing of the regulatory agency authorization to recover such costs in rates from customers; deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and ratepayers; capital markets conditions, including the availability of credit and the liquidity of our investments; inflation and interest rates; 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, pipeline explosions and equipment failures; 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, terrorist attacks that threaten system operations and critical infrastructure, and wars; weather conditions, conservation efforts, natural disasters, catastrophic accidents, and other events that may disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, and subject us to third-party liability for property damage or personal injuries some of which may or may not be covered by insurance; risks that our partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill their contractual commitments; business, regulatory, environmental and legal decisions and requirements; 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; the resolution of litigation; 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 Co.