Sempra Energy (SRE) posted strong third quarter results of $1.27 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.19 by 8 cents. The company also beat the year-ago earnings per share (EPS) of $1.24 by 3 cents. This is commendable since Sempra Energy had witnessed a steep fall in its topline year-over-year. The upside in earnings came mainly from its commodities-trading joint venture with Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. -- RBS Sempra Commodities. Sempra Energy is an energy services holding company involved in the sale, distribution, storage and transportation of natural gas. The company operates through two segments -- Sempra Utilities and Sempra Global. Sempra Utilities consists of two California regulated public utility companies, Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E). Sempra Global consists of businesses engaged in providing energy products and services -- Sempra Commodities, Sempra Generation, Sempra Pipelines & ...

A subsidiary of Sempra Energy (SRE) recently became an equal partner of a BP Plc. (BP) unit for developing a 200MW Fowler Ridge II Wind Farm in Benton County, Indiana. 

The Fowler Ridge joint venture is currently under construction on a 17,000-acre site, about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis and is expected to be operational in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The 200MW facility will produce enough electricity for nearly 60,000 homes.

The project's entire power output has already been sold under four, long-term 50-MW contracts. Three of these deals were signed with units of American Electric Power (AEP) and one with Vectren Energy Delivery (VVC) of Indiana for 20-year terms each. The project will use 133 wind turbines, each with the ability to generate 1.5 MW.

The Fowler Ridge II development is an expansion of Fowler Ridge I, a 400-MW wind farm that commenced operations

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Sempra Energy (SRE) posted strong second-quarter results with earnings of $1.06 per share that topped the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate by 11.6% or 11 cents. This is commendable since GAAP EPS fell to eighty cents lower than the year-ago EPS of ninety-eight cents due to an asset write-off charge of twenty-six cents per share.   Sempra Energy is an energy services holding company involved in the sale, distribution, storage and transportation of natural gas. The company operates through two segments – Sempra Utilities and Sempra Global.   Quarterly Results

The Southern California-based company’s revenue, however, declined by a third year-over-year to $1.7 billion due to lower demand in the quarter. The downside came from both Sempra Utilities and Sempra Global.

This, coupled with the asset write-off from the Liberty gas storage project, brought net earnings down by 19%. However, year-ago earnings had included a $37 million gain from the Sempra Commodities

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