SoCalGas Among First Utilities in the Nation to Transition its Over-the-Road Fleet with Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles
Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) has made a significant step towards sustainability by purchasing 23 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (HFCEVs), with plans to expand the fleet to 50 by next month. This initiative supports its Net Zero 2045 climate goal, aiming for a 50% clean fuel vehicle fleet by 2025 and a 100% zero-emission fleet by 2035. The vehicles, which emit only water, mark an important transition for SoCalGas in reducing emissions and are part of over 10 hydrogen pilot projects. This strategy aligns with California’s broader climate objectives.
- Acquisition of 23 Toyota Mirai HFCEVs launches the transition to hydrogen-powered fleet.
- Goals include 50% clean fuel vehicles by 2025 and a 100% zero-emission fleet by 2035.
- The initiative supports California's climate goals while reducing emissions.
- None.
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) today announced that it took delivery of 23 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (HFCEV), marking the company's first purchase of hydrogen-powered vehicles. The company plans to expand its fleet of HFCEVs to 50 next month, making SoCalGas among the first utilities in the nation to start transitioning to hydrogen. These HFCEVs are an important step for SoCalGas in decarbonizing its fleet and supports the company's Net Zero 2045 climate goal, which includes replacing
"California companies must work together in the fight against climate change," said State Senator Susan Rubio. "The transportation sector is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gas emissions in California and these types of efforts will help the state meet its climate goals."
"Each vehicle in our light duty over-the-road fleet is driven an average of 10,000 miles per year. The zero-emissions Toyota Mirai HFCEVs have a driving range of 400 miles and since they run on hydrogen the only by-product is water," said Sandra Hrna, vice president of supply chain and operations support at SoCalGas. "Transitioning some of our fleet to HFCEVs will help us reduce emissions, moving SoCalGas closer to our net zero goal and helping California reach carbon neutrality faster."
"Longo Toyota is honored to partner with SoCalGas on their strategy to reduce emissions from their vehicle fleet and we are excited to help them with the acquisition of 50 new Toyota Mirai fuel cell electric vehicles," said Doug Eroh, president and general manager at Longo Toyota. "The Toyota Mirai is fueled with hydrogen and makes its own electricity on board while only emitting clean water from its tailpipe. We look forward to working with SoCalGas in the years to come on the acquisition and service of their clean vehicle fleet."
The light-duty vehicle industry has started to shift towards zero emissions vehicles, currently dominated by battery EVs (BEVs) and complemented by hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. SoCalGas' recently released economy-wide technical analysis reveals that in the light-duty vehicle sector, BEVs and HFCEVs could address different use cases. For vehicles with longer range requirements or higher utilization needs, such as taxis, ride-share fleet, or SoCalGas' own fleet, HFCEVs could be cost competitive in the 2020s.
Earlier this year, in partnership with Hyzon Motors, SoCalGas announced plans to deploy its first hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric utility truck. As part of the partnership, Hyzon will deliver a Class 3 commercial service body utility truck to SoCalGas in 2022. The truck is expected to reach a maximum power of 200 kilowatts, with a range of 300 miles and will be built on the existing chassis OEM used by SoCalGas, minimizing the updates needed for operations, servicing, and training.
With the addition of the 50 Toyota Mirai HFCEVs, a third of SoCalGas' over-the-road fleet currently operates on clean fuels. The company is on track to achieve its goal of
Today, SoCalGas is actively engaged in more than 10 pilot projects related to hydrogen, including a partnership with Netherlands-based HyET Hydrogen on technology that could transform hydrogen distribution and enable the rapid expansion of hydrogen fueling stations for HFCEVs like the Toyota Mirai. The technology would allow hydrogen to be easily and affordably transported via the natural gas pipeline system, then extracted and compressed at fueling stations that provide hydrogen for HFCEVs. The transition to hydrogen is a prime example and yet another way SoCalGas is demonstrating its commitment to being the cleanest, safest, and most innovative energy company in the country.
About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, and increasingly renewable gas service to 21.8 million consumers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California. Gas delivered through the company's pipelines will continue to play a key role in California's clean energy transition—providing electric grid reliability and supporting wind and solar energy deployment.
SoCalGas' mission is to build the cleanest, safest and most innovative energy company in America. In support of that mission, SoCalGas is committed to the goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations and delivery of energy by 2045 and to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply to core customers with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for customers. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.
This press release 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 press release. 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 press release, 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," "goal," "aim," "commit," 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: decisions, investigations, regulations, issuances or revocations of permits and other authorizations, renewals of franchises, and other actions by (i) the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S. Department of Energy, and other regulatory and governmental bodies and (ii) states, counties, cities and other jurisdictions in the U.S. in which we do business; the success of business development efforts and construction projects, including risks in (i) completing construction projects or other transactions on schedule and budget, (ii) the ability to realize anticipated benefits from any of these efforts if completed, and (iii) 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 the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility; 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; weather, natural disasters, pandemics, accidents, equipment failures, explosions, acts of terrorism, information system outages or other events that disrupt our operations, damage our facilities and systems, cause the release of harmful materials, cause fires or 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 natural gas and natural gas storage capacity, including disruptions caused by limitations on the withdrawal of natural gas from storage facilities; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on capital projects, regulatory approvals and the execution of our operations; cybersecurity threats to the storage and pipeline infrastructure, information and systems used to operate our businesses, and confidentiality of our proprietary information and personal information of our customers and employees, including ransomware attacks on our systems and the systems of third-party vendors and other parties with which we conduct business; volatility in 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. Some of these risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the reports that Sempra and Bloom Energy have 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, on Sempra's website, www.sempra.com, and Bloom Energy's website, www.bloomenergy.com. Investors should not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. Neither party undertakes any obligation to revise or publicly update any forward-looking statements unless if and as required by law.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company
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