Sempra earnings edge up on power plant sale
San Diego-based utility holding company Sempra Energy reported a nearly 10 percent rise in second quarter earnings over the previous year, elevated by the sale of a power plant in Arizona.
Quarterly earnings rose to $295 million for the three month period ending in June, up from $269 million for the same period in 2014. The results included a $36 million after-tax gain from the sale of Sempra’s remaining interest in the Mesquite natural gas power plant, located west of Phoenix near Wintersburg.
Earnings at subsidiary San Diego Gas & Electric increased by $3 million to $126 million, while profits dipped by $10 million to $70 million at Southern California Gas. The decline at SoCal Gas was due to seasonal accounting practices that were implemented for the first time this year, Sempra said.
Sempra’s South American utilities in Peru and Chile reported quarterly profits of $45 million, up from $42 million last year.
Sempra operations in Mexico increased earnings by $16 million to $50 million due to higher pipeline revenues.
Earnings at Sempra Renewables, which focuses on utility-scale solar and wind development, rose by $1 million to $19 million for the quarter. Sempra U.S. gas & Power has secured long-term contracts to develop two industrial scale solar projects at the company’s Mesquite Solar facility in Arizona under 20- and 25-year power purchase contracts.
“Our financial and operating results in the second quarter were very strong,” CEO Debra Reed said in a statement.
In a conference call with investors, Sempra executives said the company’s Mexico unit, IEnova, is poised for substantial growth. IEnova last week announced plans to take over the pipeline joint venture Gasoductos de Chihuahua from Mexican state oil company Pemex, buying out a $1.33 billion interest and assuming debt of $135 million. Also in July, IEnova was awarded a $110 million contract, 25-year contract to transport natural gas in the state of Chihuahua across several pipelines.
Sempra owns a roughy 80 percent stake of IEnova, which also is working with Pemex to create a liquefied natural gas export facility at an coastal terminal near Ensenada.
