This week, Sempra’s Chairman and CEO Jeffrey W. Martin was named Director of the Year by the Corporate Directors Forum for “Economic Value Creation.”
Since being named Chairman and CEO in 2018, Martin is credited with transforming Sempra by updating the company’s investment strategy to focus on the growing importance of energy infrastructure in North America.
“It is an honor to be recognized by the Corporate Directors Forum. In large measure, this award is a tribute to the overall strength of Sempra’s board of directors and their abiding focus on sound governance and long-term value creation,” said Martin. “At Sempra, we expect the economies of North America to become increasingly interdependent. Our company is uniquely positioned to build critical new energy infrastructure that is needed to support further market integration and a more rapid transition to cleaner forms of energy.”
In 2018, Martin laid out a strategic plan to realign the company’s business activities around a bold new mission to build North America’s premier energy infrastructure company. Martin guided the divestment of Sempra’s non-core assets over a two-year period, while reinvesting proceeds into key growth markets — California, Texas, Mexico — and the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export market. By allocating capital investments into high quality transmission and distribution infrastructure, it has allowed the company to significantly improve its financial performance, while also improving the company’s market capitalization by over $17 billion since early in 2018.
Additionally, Martin has spearheaded the development of new programs and initiatives to build a high-performance culture with a focus on operational safety, employee recognition, leadership development and diversity and inclusion.
Due to his strategic vision, strong leadership and sharp focus on advancing a purpose-driven culture at Sempra, Martin was named Chief Executive of the Year by S&P Global Platts at its 22nd Annual Global Energy Awards in 2020.
Delivering Long-Term Sustainable Value
Sempra’s approach to managing its business is directly aligned with the value proposition of creating long-term sustainable value for shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders. Aligned with its commitment to innovation and sustainability, the company’s business strategy includes strong climate-related goals with a view toward accelerating North America’s transition to lower carbon energy systems. For two decades, the Sempra family of companies has been on a sustained path to decarbonize its business operations.
About Corporate Directors Forum
Corporate Directors Forum was founded in 1991 with the premise that boards of directors could perform better. They provide board-focused peer networking and director education in corporate governance “best practices” for those committed to continuous learning. Their mission statement is to help directors, and those who support them, build more effective boards through continuous education and peer-networking.
This article contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions with respect to the future, involve risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees. Future results may differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements represent our estimates and assumptions only as of the date of this article. We assume no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other factors.
In this article, forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects," "forecasts," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "in process," "under construction," "in development," "target," "outlook," "maintain," "continue," or similar expressions, or when we discuss our guidance, priorities, strategy, goals, vision, mission, opportunities, projections, intentions or expectations.
Factors, among others, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those described in any forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties relating to: California wildfires, including the risks that we may be found liable for damages regardless of fault and that we may not be able to recover costs from insurance, the wildfire fund established by California Assembly Bill 1054 or in rates from customers; decisions, investigations, regulations, issuances or revocations of permits and other authorizations, renewals of franchises, and other actions by (i) the Comisión Federal de Electricidad, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S. Department of Energy, Public Utility Commission of Texas, and other regulatory and governmental bodies and (ii) states, counties, cities and other jurisdictions in the U.S., Mexico and other countries in which we do business; the success of business development efforts, construction projects and major acquisitions and divestitures, including risks in (i) the ability to make a final investment decision, (ii) completing construction projects or other transactions on schedule and budget, (iii) the ability to realize anticipated benefits from any of these efforts if completed, and (iv) obtaining the consent of partners or other third parties; the resolution of civil and criminal litigation, regulatory inquiries, investigations and proceedings, and arbitrations, including, among others, those related to the natural gas leak at Southern California Gas Company's (SoCalGas) Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our capital projects, regulatory approval processes, supply chain, liquidity and execution of operations; actions by credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or to place those ratings on negative outlook and our ability to borrow on favorable terms and meet our substantial debt service obligations; actions to reduce or eliminate reliance on natural gas, including any deterioration of or increased uncertainty in the political or regulatory environment for local natural gas distribution companies operating in California, and the impact of volatility of oil prices on our businesses and development projects; weather, natural disasters, pandemics, accidents, equipment failures, explosions, acts of terrorism, computer system outages and other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, cause the release of harmful materials, cause fires and subject us to liability for property damage or personal injuries, fines and penalties, some of which may not be covered by insurance, may be disputed by insurers or may otherwise not be recoverable through regulatory mechanisms or may impact our ability to obtain satisfactory levels of affordable insurance; the availability of electric power and natural gas and natural gas storage capacity, including disruptions caused by failures in the transmission grid, limitations on the withdrawal of natural gas from storage facilities, and equipment failures; cybersecurity threats to the energy grid, the 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 and employees; expropriation of assets, failure of foreign governments and state-owned entities to honor their contracts, and property disputes; the impact at San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) on competitive customer rates and reliability due to the growth in distributed and local power generation, including from departing retail load resulting from customers transferring to Direct Access and Community Choice Aggregation, and the risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets and contractual obligations; Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC's (Oncor) ability to eliminate or reduce its quarterly dividends due to regulatory and governance requirements and commitments, including by actions of Oncor's independent directors or a minority member director; volatility in foreign currency exchange, inflation and interest rates and commodity prices and our ability to effectively hedge these risks; changes in tax and trade policies, laws and regulations, including tariffs and revisions to international trade agreements that may increase our costs, reduce our competitiveness, or impair our ability to resolve trade disputes; and other uncertainties, some of which may be difficult to predict and are beyond our control.
These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that Sempra Energy has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). These reports are available through the EDGAR system free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, and on the company's website, www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements.
Sempra North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as the California utilities, SDG&E or SoCalGas, and Sempra North American Infrastructure, Sempra LNG, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the CPUC.
