Sempra on Feb. 25 announced an updated five-year capital plan totaling $36 billion, an increase of $4 billion over its previous five-year plan.
Nearly 94% of the total is dedicated to the energy holding company's utility subsidiaries, executives said.
The plan, a record level of spending for Sempra, is part of its goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across the company's business segments by 2050.
Sempra expects to spend $21.2 billion in California alone on energy storage, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, clean fuels and wildfire mitigation, according to a fourth-quarter 2021 earnings presentation.
Its subsidiaries in the state include San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Gas Co., which are both subject to state-level decarbonization mandates.
On Feb. 10, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted a plan to add roughly 15,000 MW of energy storage and demand response to comply with a state law that requires a 100% carbon-free power grid by 2045. The state commission also approved a renewable gas standard Feb. 24 that will require investor-owned local distribution companies to procure renewable gas and other forms of biomethane in the coming years.
"In California ... we see a marketplace here where there is a big and growing role for electrification in the form of green kilowatts, but there's also a big role for green molecules," Sempra Chairman, President and CEO Jeffrey Martin said Feb. 25 on a fourth-quarter 2021 earnings call.
Martin noted that renewable gas accounted for 4% of SoCalGas' core deliveries in 2021, and that figure is expected to rise to about 12.5% by 2030 under state energy regulators' new standard.
Sempra's updated plan calls for $12.1 billion in spending in Texas, where the company sees continued expected growth in generation and transmission interconnections and grid resiliency.
Company executives noted that Sempra's Dallas-based subsidiary, Oncor Electric Delivery Co. LLC, received a record number of new interconnection requests in 2021.
Another $2.3 billion will go toward Sempra Infrastructure projects already under construction. Sempra Infrastructure includes the company's liquefied natural gas operations and power generation resources.
For the fourth quarter of 2021, Sempra reported adjusted earnings of $688 million, or $2.16 per diluted share, compared with $668 million, or $2.28 per diluted share, in the prior-year period. The S&P Capital IQ normalized EPS estimate for Sempra in the fourth quarter was $2.00.
On a full-year basis, Sempra reported adjusted earnings of $2.64 billion, or $8.43 per diluted share, compared to $2.34 billion, or $8.00 per diluted share, in 2020. The S&P Capital IQ normalized EPS estimate for Sempra in 2021 was $8.26.
Sempra affirmed full-year 2022 guidance of $8.10 to $8.70 per share and announced full-year 2023 guidance of $8.60 to $9.20 per share.
