Sempra Energy Company

Generating clean electricity that's as cheap as power from fossil fuels is the Holy Grail of green-energy companies. A new solar project powering California homes appears to be closing in on that prize. Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy in San Diego, just took the wraps off a 10-megawatt solar farm in Nevada. That's small by industry standards, enough to light just 6,400 homes. But the ramifications are potentially huge.

Sempra Energy reported Tuesday that net income for the fourth quarter more than doubled. Profit jumped to $289 million, or $1.10 a share, from $125 million, or 47 cents, a year earlier, said the San Diego-based owner of Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. Per-share profit was 6 cents higher than the average of 12 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sempra is expanding with investments in liquefied natural gas projects and a pipeline venture.

Increasing its already substantial bet on natural gas projects, Sempra Energy said Monday that it would pay $510 million for EnergySouth Inc., a gas storage and distribution company based in Mobile, Ala. "These new assets complement our existing operations in the region and position us for future growth," Sempra Chief Executive Donald E. Felsinger said.

Sempra Energy's planned $1.72-billion power line to deliver electricity from renewable sources to Southern California cities was endorsed by the chairman of the state's utility regulator. The recommendation by Public Utilities Commission Chairman Michael Peevey, posted Tuesday on the commission's website, rejects a conclusion last month by an administrative law judge that the project, called Sunrise Powerlink, isn't needed and would add unnecessarily to power bills.

Sempra Energy, owner of Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co., on Thursday said fourth-quarter profit dropped 65% after it sold investments in Argentina that had declined in value. San Diego-based Sempra raised its 2007 profit forecast to a range of $3.75 to $3.95 a share from a previous forecast of $3.50 to $3.70. In the fourth quarter, net income fell to $125 million, or 47 cents a share, from $355 million, or $1.38, Sempra said. Revenue fell 17% to $3.

Sempra Energy Chief Executive Donald E. Felsinger got a hefty raise last year, but investors may have a difficult time figuring that out by reading the company's financial disclosures. A proxy statement filed by San Diego-based Sempra, which owns Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co., is an example of the corporate gobbledygook that caused Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox last week to scold some companies for "over-lawyering" documents.

Sempra Energy, parent of Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co., on Thursday issued a forecast for 2008 earnings that was below Wall Street expectations. Net income will be $3.85 to $4.05 a share in 2008, San Diego-based Sempra said in a statement before a presentation to analysts. That projection falls short of analysts' consensus forecast of $4.15 a share, according to a Thomson Financial poll. Last month, Sempra raised its guidance for 2007 earnings to a range of $3.

Edison International, PG&E Corp. and Sempra Energy sued Los Angeles and 17 other cities and municipal utilities for $100 million for selling electricity at inflated prices during 2000-01. The public utilities sold power on the wholesale market during California's energy crisis at rates that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission determined were "unjust, unreasonable, and unlawful," the energy companies said in the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit.

Utility owner Sempra Energy said Wednesday that its first-quarter earnings fell 11% and missed Wall Street expectations but blamed the shortfall on accounting rules that cut into commodities trading profit. Despite the profit slide, Sempra Chief Executive Don Felsinger said he was pleased with the results. He declared that San Diego-based Sempra, which owns Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas & Electric Co., was on track to meet its full-year earnings estimate of $3.75 to $3.

Sempra Energy, owner of the largest U.S. natural-gas utility, said it agreed to buy the development rights to a wind-power facility in Mexico as part of a venture into renewable energy. Sempra said it agreed to acquire the rights to develop a 250-megawatt wind-power project near La Rumorosa, a town in Baja California about 70 miles east of San Diego, where Sempra is based. It is buying the rights from Cannon Power Corp. One megawatt is enough to power about 750 average U.S. homes.