The IceBrick System could reduce the hotels'
energy bills and greenhouse gas emissions
LOS
ANGELES and IRVINE,
Calif., Jan. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern
California Gas Company (SoCalGas) today announced the successful
installation of an innovative energy savings solution at the
Beverly Hilton and Waldorf Astoria
hotels, that helps reduce the need for air conditioning during peak
electric demand, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and
costs. Nostromo Energy's IceBrick system will receive
incentives from the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC)
Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP), which is administered by
SoCalGas. SoCalGas assisted Nostromo Energy in applying for the
incentive funding and in the project's technical development. The
SGIP program now includes Large Thermal Energy Storage Systems,
with Nostromo Energy's system being the first approved for
participation under this category.
"SoCalGas supports a variety of innovations aimed at bolstering
the strength and resilience of our energy grid," said
Don Widjaja, Vice President of
Customer Solutions at SoCalGas. "The IceBrick system serves as
a prime example, as it not only helps advance California's climate goals, but helps address
the challenges of electricity demand fluctuations throughout the
day. Through collaboration with various industry stakeholders,
we're supporting diverse solutions with the goal to obtain a more
reliable, resilient, and sustainable energy future."
Nostromo Energy's technology uses electricity from the grid
during off-peak hours – a time when the grid relies more on
renewable sources like solar and wind – to convert water into ice.
This "cold energy" is stored in modular cells and is later released
during peak demand hours. This method can cool the building's air
conditioning system without relying on power-intensive
chillers.
"We're thrilled to work with SoCalGas and the Self Generation
Incentive Program. Our IceBrick technology is a breakthrough –
buildings can be retrofitted to store and discharge megawatt hours
of electricity, cutting cooling costs during peak hours and
providing critically-needed demand flexibility to the power grid,"
said Boaz Ur, Nostromo's
Chief Business Development Officer. "Using Nostromo's
technology, utilities can continue to work with their largest
commercial and industrial customers to save on energy costs,
reduce carbon emissions, and gain resilience."
SGIP is designed to incentivize generation and storage
technologies, including projects fueled by renewable natural gas
(RNG) and hydrogen, which aim to reduce greenhouse gases, increase
grid reliability, and provide customer bill savings and resiliency
during electric grid-outage events.
Since its inception, SoCalGas has supported nearly 4,000
projects that have applied for more than $300 million in incentives. These types of energy
storage and cleaner fuel-powered technologies highlight the diverse
solutions available to decarbonize customer end-uses.
In line with these efforts, SoCalGas' energy efficiency programs
have also generated over $1
billion in avoided energy costs and have reduced greenhouse
gas emissions by 1.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the
equivalent of removing more than 250,000 cars annually.
SoCalGas is among the first and largest natural gas utilities
in the United States to announce its aim to have net-zero
greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. The company was awarded the top
"Business Transformation Award" at Reuters Events' 2022 Responsible
Business Awards for having established truly transformative
sustainability priorities with the potential to create impact at
scale in the energy sector and beyond.
To learn more about the SGIP program click here. For access
to other SoCalGas customer savings programs and incentives
click here.
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 over 21 million consumers across 24,000 square
miles of Central and Southern California. We believe 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 infrastructure company in America. In support of
that mission, SoCalGas aspires to achieve net-zero greenhouse
gas emissions in its operations and delivery of energy by 2045
and to replace 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 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 infrastructure company based in San
Diego.
For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or
connect with SoCalGas on
Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas)
and Facebook.
About Nostromo Energy
Nostromo Energy's ice-based energy storage solution is
redefining energy storage for commercial and industrial buildings,
helping them become sustainable energy storage assets, and reduce
energy costs and carbon emissions. The Nostromo IceBrickⓇ system
uses ice to store energy when electricity prices are low and
renewable energy is abundant, and discharge the energy to avoid
purchasing electricity that is carbon intensive and expensive. In
this way, Nostromo helps accelerate the renewable revolution and
paves the way to a carbon free electric grid, while offering a
safe, clean and financially beneficial system to building owners.
The IceBrickⓇ is non-flammable, modular and compact, easily
retrofitted to existing commercial and industrial buildings. To
learn more about Nostromo, visit www.nostromo.energy.
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about the
future, involve risks and uncertainties, and are not guarantees.
Future results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied in any forward-looking statement. 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 otherwise.
In this press release, forward-looking statements can be
identified by words such as "believe," "expect," "intend,"
"anticipate," "contemplate," "plan," "estimate," "project,"
"forecast," "should," "could," "would," "will," "confident," "may,"
"can," "potential," "possible," "proposed," "in process,"
"construct," "develop," "opportunity," "initiative," "target,"
"outlook," "optimistic," "poised," "maintain," "continue,"
"progress," "advance," "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 expressed or implied in any
forward-looking statement include: decisions, investigations,
inquiries, regulations, denials or revocations of permits,
consents, approvals or other authorizations, renewals of
franchises, and other actions by the (i) California Public
Utilities Commission (CPUC), U.S. Department of Energy, U.S.
Internal Revenue Service and other governmental and regulatory
bodies and (ii) U.S. and states, counties, cities and other
jurisdictions therein where 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) realizing anticipated benefits from any
of these efforts if completed, and (iii) obtaining third-party
consents and approvals; macroeconomic trends or other factors that
could change our capital expenditure plans and their potential
impact on rate base or other growth; litigation, arbitrations and
other proceedings, and changes to laws and regulations, including
those related to tax and trade policy; cybersecurity threats,
including by state and state-sponsored actors, of ransomware or
other attacks on our systems or the systems of third parties with
which we conduct business, including the energy grid or other
energy infrastructure, all of which continue to become more
pronounced; the availability, uses, sufficiency, and cost of
capital resources and our ability to borrow money on favorable
terms and meet our obligations, including due to (i) actions by
credit rating agencies to downgrade our credit ratings or place
those ratings on negative outlook, (ii) instability in the capital
markets, or (iii) rising interest rates and inflation; failure of
our counterparties to honor their contracts and commitments; the
impact on affordability of our customer rates and our cost of
capital and on our ability to pass through higher costs to
customers due to (i) volatility in inflation, interest rates and
commodity prices and (ii) the cost of the clean energy transition
in California; the impact of
climate and sustainability policies, laws, rules, regulations,
disclosures and trends, including actions to reduce or eliminate
reliance on natural gas, increased uncertainty in the political or
regulatory environment for California natural gas distribution companies,
the risk of nonrecovery for stranded assets, and our ability to
incorporate new technologies; weather, natural disasters,
pandemics, accidents, equipment failures, explosions, terrorism,
information system outages or other events that disrupt our
operations, damage our facilities or systems, cause the release of
harmful materials or fires or subject us to liability for damages,
fines and penalties, some of which may not be recoverable through
regulatory mechanisms or insurance 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 failures in the pipeline system or
limitations on the withdrawal of natural gas from storage
facilities; and other uncertainties, some of which are difficult to
predict and beyond our control.
These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the
reports that the company 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 Sempra's website, www.sempra.com. Investors should not rely
unduly on any forward-looking statements.
Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra Infrastructure Partners, Sempra
Texas, Sempra Texas Utilities, Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC
(Oncor) and Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.P.I. de
C.V. (IEnova) are not the same companies as
the California utilities, San Diego Gas & Electric Company or
Southern California Gas Company, and Sempra Infrastructure, Sempra
Infrastructure Partners, Sempra Texas, Sempra Mexico, Sempra Texas
Utilities, Oncor and IEnova are not regulated by the CPUC.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Company