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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We accrue losses for a legal proceeding when it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. However, the uncertainties inherent in legal proceedings make it difficult to reasonably estimate the costs and effects of resolving these matters. Accordingly, actual costs incurred may differ materially from amounts accrued, may exceed applicable insurance coverage and could materially adversely affect our business, cash flows, results of operations, financial condition and prospects. Unless otherwise indicated, we are unable to estimate reasonably possible losses in excess of any amounts accrued.
At March 31, 2021, loss contingency accruals for legal matters, including associated legal fees and regulatory matters related to the Leak, that are probable and estimable were $602 million for Sempra Energy Consolidated, including $458 million for SoCalGas. Amounts for Sempra Energy Consolidated and SoCalGas include $432 million for matters related to the Leak, which we discuss below.
SoCalGas
Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility Gas Leak
From October 23, 2015 through February 11, 2016, SoCalGas experienced a natural gas leak from one of the injection-and-withdrawal wells, SS25, at its Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility in Los Angeles County. As described below in “Civil Litigation” and “Regulatory Proceedings,” numerous lawsuits, investigations and regulatory proceedings have been initiated in response to the Leak, resulting in significant costs, which together with other Leak-related costs are discussed below in “Cost Estimates, Accounting Impact and Insurance.”
Civil Litigation. As of April 30, 2021, 395 lawsuits, including approximately 36,000 plaintiffs, are pending against SoCalGas and Sempra Energy related to the Leak. All these cases, other than the federal securities class action discussed below, which names only Sempra Energy, are coordinated before a single court in the LA Superior Court for pretrial management.
In November 2017, in the coordinated proceeding, individuals and business entities filed a Third Amended Consolidated Master Case Complaint for Individual Actions, through which their separate lawsuits will be managed for pretrial purposes. The consolidated complaint asserts causes of action for negligence, negligence per se, private and public nuisance (continuing and permanent), trespass, inverse condemnation, strict liability, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraudulent concealment, loss of consortium, wrongful death and violations of Proposition 65 against SoCalGas and Sempra Energy. The consolidated complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages for personal injuries, lost wages and/or lost profits, property damage and diminution in property value, injunctive relief, costs of future medical monitoring, civil penalties (including penalties associated with Proposition 65 claims alleging violation of requirements for warning about certain chemical exposures), and attorneys’ fees. The initial trial previously scheduled for June 2020 for a small number of randomly selected individual plaintiffs was postponed, with a new trial date yet to be determined by the court.
In January 2017, two consolidated class action complaints were filed against SoCalGas and Sempra Energy, one on behalf of a putative class of persons and businesses who own or lease real property within a five-mile radius of the well (the Property Class Action), and a second on behalf of a putative class of all persons and entities conducting business within five miles of the facility (the Business Class Action). The Property Class Action asserts claims for strict liability for ultra-hazardous activities, negligence, negligence per se, violation of the California Unfair Competition Law, trespass, permanent and continuing public and private nuisance, and inverse condemnation. The Business Class Action asserts a claim for violation of the California Unfair Competition Law. Both complaints seek compensatory, statutory and punitive damages, injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees.
Five property developers filed complaints in July and October of 2018 against SoCalGas and Sempra Energy alleging causes of action for strict liability, negligence per se, negligence, continuing nuisance, permanent nuisance and violation of the California Unfair Competition Law, as well as claims for negligence against certain directors of SoCalGas. The complaints seek compensatory, statutory and punitive damages, injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees.
In October 2018 and January 2019, complaints were filed on behalf of 51 firefighters stationed near the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility who allege they were injured by exposure to chemicals released during the Leak. The complaints against SoCalGas and Sempra Energy assert causes of actions for negligence, negligence per se, private and public nuisance (continuing and permanent), trespass, inverse condemnation, strict liability, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, fraudulent concealment and loss of consortium. The complaints seek compensatory and punitive damages for personal injuries, lost wages and/or lost profits, property damage and diminution in property value, and attorneys’ fees.
Four shareholder derivative actions were filed alleging breach of fiduciary duties against certain officers and certain directors of Sempra Energy and/or SoCalGas. Three of the actions were joined in an Amended Consolidated Shareholder Derivative Complaint, which was dismissed with prejudice in January 2021. The plaintiffs have filed a notice of appeal. The remaining action was also dismissed but plaintiffs were given leave to amend their complaint.
In addition, a federal securities class action alleging violation of the federal securities laws was filed against Sempra Energy and certain of its officers in July 2017 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California. In March 2018, the court dismissed the action with prejudice. The plaintiffs have appealed the dismissal.
Regulatory Proceedings. In January 2016, CalGEM and the CPUC directed an independent analysis of the technical root cause of the Leak to be conducted by Blade. In May 2019, Blade released its report, which concluded that the Leak was caused by a failure of the production casing of the well due to corrosion and that attempts to stop the Leak were not effectively conducted, but did not identify any instances of non-compliance by SoCalGas. Blade concluded that SoCalGas’ compliance activities conducted prior to the Leak did not find indications of a casing integrity issue. Blade opined, however, that there were measures, none of which were required by gas storage regulations at the time, that could have been taken to aid in the early identification of corrosion and that, in Blade’s opinion, would have prevented or mitigated the Leak. The report also identified well safety
practices and regulations that have since been adopted by CalGEM and implemented by SoCalGas, which address most of the root cause of the Leak identified during Blade’s investigation.
In June 2019, the CPUC opened an OII to consider penalties against SoCalGas for the Leak, which it later bifurcated into two phases. The first phase will consider whether SoCalGas violated California Public Utilities Code Section 451 or other laws, CPUC orders or decisions, rules or requirements, whether SoCalGas engaged in unreasonable and/or imprudent practices with respect to its operation and maintenance of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility or its related record-keeping practices, whether SoCalGas cooperated sufficiently with the Safety Enforcement Division (SED) of the CPUC and Blade during the pre-formal investigation, and whether any of the mitigation proposed by Blade should be implemented to the extent not already done. In November 2019, the SED, based largely on the Blade report, alleged a total of 330 violations, asserting that SoCalGas violated California Public Utilities Code Section 451 and failed to cooperate in the investigation and to keep proper records. Hearings on a subset of issues began in March 2021. The second phase will consider whether SoCalGas should be sanctioned for the Leak and what damages, fines or other penalties or sanctions, if any, should be imposed for any violations, unreasonable or imprudent practices, or failure to sufficiently cooperate with the SED as determined by the CPUC in the first phase. In addition, the second phase will determine the amounts of various costs incurred by SoCalGas and other parties in connection with the Leak and the ratemaking treatment or other disposition of such costs, which could result in little or no recovery of such costs by SoCalGas. SoCalGas has engaged in settlement discussions with the SED in connection with this proceeding.
In February 2017, the CPUC opened a proceeding pursuant to the SB 380 OII to determine the feasibility of minimizing or eliminating the use of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility while still maintaining energy and electric reliability for the region, but excluding issues with respect to air quality, public health, causation, culpability or cost responsibility regarding the Leak. The CPUC issued a decision on the interim range of gas inventory levels at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility in November 2020 with a final determination to be made within the SB 380 OII proceeding. The first phase of the proceeding established a framework for the hydraulic, production cost and economic modeling assumptions for the potential reduction in usage or elimination of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility. Phase 2 of the proceeding, which will evaluate the impacts of reducing or eliminating the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility using the established framework and models, began in the first quarter of 2019. In December 2019, the CPUC added a third phase of the proceeding and engaged a consultant who is analyzing alternative means for meeting or avoiding the demand for the facility’s services if it were eliminated in either the 2027 or 2035 timeframe.
If the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility were to be permanently closed, or if future cash flows from its operation were otherwise insufficient to recover its carrying value, it could result in an impairment of the facility and significantly higher than expected operating costs and/or additional capital expenditures, and natural gas reliability and electric generation could be jeopardized. At March 31, 2021, the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility had a net book value of $840 million. Any significant impairment of this asset, or higher operating costs and additional capital expenditures incurred by SoCalGas that may not be recoverable in customer rates, could have a material adverse effect on SoCalGas’ and Sempra Energy’s results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.
Cost Estimates, Accounting Impact and Insurance. SoCalGas has incurred significant costs for temporary relocation of community residents; to control the well and stop the Leak; to mitigate the natural gas released; to purchase natural gas to replace what was lost through the Leak; to defend against and, in certain cases, settle, civil and criminal litigation arising from the Leak; to pay the costs of the government-ordered response to the Leak, including the costs for Blade to conduct the root cause analysis described above; to respond to various government and agency investigations regarding the Leak; and to comply with increased regulation imposed as a result of the Leak. At March 31, 2021, SoCalGas estimates these costs related to the Leak are $1,627 million (the cost estimate), which includes the $1,279 million of costs recovered or probable of recovery from insurance. This cost estimate may increase significantly as more information becomes available. A substantial portion of the cost estimate has been paid, and $437 million is accrued as Reserve for Aliso Canyon Costs as of March 31, 2021 on SoCalGas’ and Sempra Energy’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
In the first quarter of 2020, SoCalGas recorded $277 million in costs, inclusive of estimated legal costs, related to settlement discussions in connection with civil litigation described above in “Civil Litigation.” Of this amount, $177 million was recorded in Insurance Receivable for Aliso Canyon Costs on the SoCalGas and Sempra Energy Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and $100 million ($72 million after tax) was recorded in Aliso Canyon Litigation and Regulatory Matters on the SoCalGas and Sempra Energy Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. These accruals are included in the cost estimate that we describe above.
Except for the amounts paid or estimated to settle certain actions, as described in “Civil Litigation” and “Regulatory Proceedings” above, the cost estimate does not include litigation, regulatory proceedings or regulatory costs to the extent it is not possible to predict, at this time, the outcome of these actions or reasonably estimate the costs to defend or resolve the actions or the amount of
damages, restitution, civil or administrative fines, sanctions, penalties or other costs or remedies that may be imposed or incurred. The cost estimate also does not include certain other costs incurred by Sempra Energy associated with defending against shareholder derivative lawsuits and other potential costs that we currently do not anticipate incurring or that we cannot reasonably estimate. These costs not included in the cost estimate could be significant and could have a material adverse effect on SoCalGas’ and Sempra Energy’s cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
We have received insurance payments for many of the costs included in the cost estimate, including temporary relocation and associated processing costs, control-of-well expenses, costs of the government-ordered response to the Leak, certain legal costs and lost gas. As of March 31, 2021, we recorded the expected recovery of the cost estimate related to the Leak of $414 million as Insurance Receivable for Aliso Canyon Costs on SoCalGas’ and Sempra Energy’s Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. This amount is exclusive of insurance retentions and $865 million of insurance proceeds we received through March 31, 2021. We intend to pursue the full extent of our insurance coverage for the costs we have incurred. Other than insurance for certain future defense costs we may incur as well as directors’ and officers’ liability, we have exhausted all of our insurance in this matter. We continue to pursue other sources of insurance coverage for costs related to this matter, but we may not be successful in obtaining additional insurance recovery for any of these costs. If we are not able to secure additional insurance recovery, if any costs we have recorded as an insurance receivable are not collected, if there are delays in receiving insurance recoveries, or if the insurance recoveries are subject to income taxes while the associated costs are not tax deductible, such amounts, which could be significant, could have a material adverse effect on SoCalGas’ and Sempra Energy’s cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
Sempra Mexico
Energía Costa Azul
IEnova has been engaged in a long-running land dispute relating to property adjacent to its ECA Regas Facility that allegedly overlaps with land owned by the ECA Regas Facility (the facility, however, is not situated on the land that is the subject of this dispute). A claimant to the adjacent property filed complaints in the federal Agrarian Court challenging the refusal of SEDATU in 2006 to issue title to him for the disputed property. In November 2013, the federal Agrarian Court ordered that SEDATU issue the requested title and cause it to be registered. Both SEDATU and IEnova challenged the ruling due to lack of notification of the underlying process. In May 2019, a federal court in Mexico reversed the ruling and ordered a retrial.
Four other cases involving two adjacent areas of real property on which part of the ECA Regas Facility is situated, each brought by a single plaintiff or her descendants, remain pending against the facility. The first disputed area is subject to a claim in the federal Agrarian Court that has been ongoing since 2006, in which the plaintiffs seek to annul the property title for a portion of the land on which the ECA Regas Facility is situated and to obtain possession of a different parcel that allegedly overlaps with the site of the ECA Regas Facility. The second disputed area is one parcel adjacent to the ECA Regas Facility that allegedly overlaps with land on which the ECA Regas Facility is situated, which is subject to a claim in the Agrarian Court and two claims in civil courts. The Agrarian Court proceeding, which seeks an order that SEDATU issue title to the plaintiff, was initiated in 2013 and the parties are awaiting a final decision. The two civil court proceedings, which seek to invalidate the contract by which the ECA Regas Facility purchased the applicable parcel of land on which the ECA Regas Facility is situated on the grounds that the purchase price was allegedly unfair, are progressing at different stages. In the first, initiated in 2013, a lower court ruled in favor of the ECA Regas Facility and the ruling has been appealed by the plaintiff. The same plaintiff filed the second civil case in 2019, which is in its initial stages.
Certain of these land disputes involve land on which portions of the ECA LNG liquefaction facilities are proposed to be situated or on which portions of the ECA Regas Facility that would be necessary for the operation of the proposed ECA LNG liquefaction facilities are situated.
Several administrative challenges are pending before Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (the Mexican environmental protection agency) and Federal Tax and Administrative Courts, seeking revocation of the environmental impact authorization issued to the ECA Regas Facility in 2003. These cases generally allege that the conditions and mitigation measures in the environmental impact authorization are inadequate and challenge findings that the activities of the terminal are consistent with regional development guidelines.
In 2018, two related claimants filed separate challenges in the federal district court in Ensenada, Baja California in relation to the environmental and social impact permits issued by each of Agencia de Seguridad, Energía y Ambiente (ASEA) and SENER to ECA LNG authorizing natural gas liquefaction activities at the ECA Regas Facility. In the first case, the court issued a provisional injunction in September 2018. In December 2018, ASEA approved modifications to the environmental permit that facilitate the development of the proposed natural gas liquefaction facility in two phases. In May 2019, the court canceled the provisional injunction. The claimant appealed the court’s decision canceling the injunction, but was not successful. The claimant’s underlying
challenge to the permits remains pending. In the second case, the initial request for a provisional injunction was denied. That decision was reversed on appeal in January 2020, resulting in the issuance of a new injunction against the same environmental and social impact permits that were already issued by ASEA and SENER. This injunction has uncertain application absent clarification by the court. The reversal and issuance of the injunction in the second case is under further appeal.
In May 2020, the two third-party capacity customers at the ECA Regas Facility, Shell Mexico and Gazprom, asserted that a 2019 update of the general terms and conditions for service at the facility, as approved by the CRE, resulted in a breach of contract by IEnova and a force majeure event. Citing these circumstances, the customers subsequently stopped making payments of amounts due under their respective LNG storage and regasification agreements. IEnova has rejected the customers’ assertions and has drawn (and expects to continue to draw) on the customers’ letters of credit provided as payment security. The parties engaged in discussions under the applicable contractual dispute resolution procedures without coming to a mutually acceptable resolution. In July 2020, Shell Mexico submitted a request for arbitration of the dispute and although Gazprom has joined the proceeding, Gazprom has since replenished the amounts drawn on its letter of credit and has resumed making regular monthly payments under its LNG storage and regasification agreement and as a consequence IEnova is not currently drawing on its letter of credit. IEnova intends to avail itself of its available claims, defenses, rights and remedies in the arbitration proceeding, including seeking dismissal of the customers’ claims. In addition to the arbitration proceeding, Shell Mexico also filed a constitutional challenge to the CRE’s approval of the update to the general terms and conditions. In October 2020, Shell Mexico’s request to stay the CRE’s approval was denied and, subsequently, Shell Mexico filed an appeal of that decision.
One or more unfavorable final decisions on these disputes or challenges could materially and adversely affect our existing natural gas regasification operations and proposed natural gas liquefaction projects at the site of the ECA Regas Facility and have a material adverse effect on Sempra Energy’s cash flows, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.
Guaymas-El Oro Segment of the Sonora Pipeline
IEnova’s Sonora natural gas pipeline consists of two segments, the Sasabe-Puerto Libertad-Guaymas segment, and the Guaymas-El Oro segment. Each segment has its own service agreement with the CFE. In 2015, the Yaqui tribe, with the exception of some members living in the Bácum community, granted its consent and a right-of-way easement agreement for the construction of the Guaymas-El Oro segment of the Sonora natural gas pipeline that crosses its territory. Representatives of the Bácum community filed a legal challenge in Mexican federal court demanding the right to withhold consent for the project, the stoppage of work in the Yaqui territory and damages. In 2016, the judge granted a suspension order that prohibited the construction of such segment through the Bácum community territory. Because the pipeline does not pass through the Bácum community, IEnova did not believe the 2016 suspension order prohibited construction in the remainder of the Yaqui territory. Construction of the Guaymas-El Oro segment was completed, and commercial operations began in May 2017.
Following the start of commercial operations of the Guaymas-El Oro segment, IEnova reported damage to the Guaymas-El Oro segment of the Sonora pipeline in the Yaqui territory that has made that section inoperable since August 2017 and, as a result, IEnova declared a force majeure event. In 2017, an appellate court ruled that the scope of the 2016 suspension order encompassed the wider Yaqui territory, which has prevented IEnova from making repairs to put the pipeline back in service. In July 2019, a federal district court ruled in favor of IEnova and held that the Yaqui tribe was properly consulted and that consent from the Yaqui tribe was properly received. Representatives of the Bácum community appealed this decision, causing the suspension order preventing IEnova from repairing the damage to the Guaymas-El Oro segment of the Sonora pipeline in the Yaqui territory to remain in place until the appeals process is exhausted.
IEnova exercised its rights under the contract, which included seeking force majeure payments for the two-year period such force majeure payments were required to be made, which ended in August 2019.
In July 2019, the CFE filed a request for arbitration generally to nullify certain contract terms that provide for fixed capacity payments in instances of force majeure and made a demand for substantial damages in connection with the force majeure event. In September 2019, the arbitration process ended when IEnova and the CFE reached an agreement to restart natural gas transportation service on the earlier of completion of repair of the damaged pipeline or January 15, 2020, and to modify the tariff structure and extend the term of the contract by 10 years. Subsequently, IEnova and the CFE agreed to extend the service start date to September 14, 2021. Under the revised agreement, the CFE will resume making payments only when the damaged section of the Guaymas-El Oro segment of the Sonora pipeline is repaired. If the pipeline is not repaired by September 14, 2021 and the parties do not agree on a new service start date, IEnova retains the right to terminate the contract and seek to recover its reasonable and documented costs and lost profits.
If IEnova is unable to make such repairs and resume operations in the Guaymas-El Oro segment of the Sonora pipeline within this time frame or if IEnova terminates the contract and is unable to obtain recovery, there may be a material adverse impact on Sempra Energy’s results of operations and cash flows and our ability to recover the carrying value of our investment. At
March 31, 2021, the Guaymas-El Oro segment of the Sonora pipeline had a net book value of $442 million. The Sasabe-Puerto Libertad-Guaymas segment of the Sonora pipeline remains in full operation and is not impacted by these developments.
Regulatory Actions by the Mexican Government that Impact Renewable Energy Facilities
In April 2020, CENACE issued an order that it claims would safeguard Mexico’s national power grid from interruptions that may be caused by renewable energy projects. The main provision of the order suspends all legally mandated pre-operative testing that would be needed for new renewable energy projects to commence operations and prevents such projects from connecting to the national power grid until further notice. IEnova’s renewable energy projects affected by the order filed for legal protection through amparo claims (constitutional protection lawsuits) and, in June 2020, received injunctive relief until the claims are resolved by the courts. IEnova has since achieved commercial operations on its solar power generation projects that were impacted by the order. The second phase of ESJ is not impacted by the order because it is not interconnected to the Mexican electric grid.
In May 2020, the CRE approved an update to the transmission rates included in legacy renewable and cogeneration energy contracts, based on the claim that the legacy transmission rates did not reflect fair and proportional costs for providing the applicable services and, therefore, created inequitable competitive conditions. Three of IEnova’s renewable energy facilities (Don Diego Solar, Border Solar and Ventika) are currently holders of contracts with such legacy rates, and any increases in the transmission rates would be passed through directly to their customers. These renewable energy facilities have obtained injunctive relief, but are required to guarantee the difference in tariffs until the claims are resolved by the courts.
In March 2021, the Mexican government published a decree with amendments to Mexico’s Electricity Industry Law that include some public policy changes, including establishing priority of dispatch for CFE plants over privately owned plants. According to the decree, these amendments were to become effective on March 10, 2021, and SENER, the CRE and CENACE were to have 180 calendar days to modify, as necessary, all resolutions, policies, criteria, manuals and other regulations applicable to the power industry to conform with this decree. However, a Mexican court issued a definitive suspension of the amendments on March 19, 2021 and it is expected that Mexico’s Supreme Court will ultimately settle the matter.
In October 2020, the CRE approved a resolution to amend the rules for the inclusion of new offtakers of legacy generation and self-supply permits (the Offtaker Resolution), which became effective immediately. The Offtaker Resolution prohibits self-supply permit holders from adding new offtakers that were not included in the original development or expansion plans, making modifications to the amount of energy allocated to the named offtakers, and including load centers that have entered into a supply arrangement under Mexico’s Electricity Industry Law. Don Diego Solar, Border Solar and Ventika are holders of legacy self-supply permits and are impacted by the Offtaker Resolution. If IEnova is not able to obtain legal protection for these impacted facilities, IEnova expects it will sell Border Solar’s capacity and a portion of Don Diego Solar’s capacity affected by the Offtaker Resolution into the spot market. Currently, prices in the spot market are significantly lower than the fixed prices in the PPAs that were entered into through self-supply permits. IEnova has filed lawsuits against the Offtaker Resolution. Currently, Border Solar and Don Diego Solar are prohibited from delivering electric power to all (with respect to Border Solar) or a portion (with respect to Don Diego Solar) of their respective offtakers pending final resolution of these lawsuits.
IEnova and other companies affected by these new orders and regulations have challenged the orders and regulations by filing amparo claims, some of which have been granted injunctive relief. The court-ordered injunctions provide relief until Mexico’s Federal District Court or Supreme Court ultimately resolves the amparo claims. An unfavorable final decision on these amparo challenges, or the potential for an extended dispute, may impact our ability to operate our wind and solar facilities at existing levels or at all, may result in increased costs for IEnova and its customers, and may adversely affect our ability to develop new projects, any of which may have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and cash flows and our ability to recover the carrying values of our renewable energy investments in Mexico.
On April 23, 2021, the President of Mexico’s initiative to reform the Hydrocarbons Law was approved by Mexico’s Congress, leaving only its promulgation and publication pending. This reform grants SENER and the CRE additional powers to suspend and early terminate permits related to the midstream and downstream sectors. Suspension of permits will be determined by SENER or the CRE when a danger to national security, energy security, or to the national economy is foreseen. Likewise, new grounds for the revocation of permits are in place if the permit holder (i) carries out its activity with illegally imported products (smuggling); (ii) fails, on more than one occasion, to comply with the provisions applicable to quantity, quality and measurement of the products; or (iii) modifies the technical conditions of its infrastructure without authorization. Additionally, in the case of existing permits, authorities will revoke those permits that fail to comply with the minimum storage requirements established by SENER.
Other Litigation
RBS Sempra Commodities
Sempra Energy holds an equity method investment in RBS Sempra Commodities, a limited liability partnership in the process of being liquidated. RBS, now NatWest Markets plc, our partner in the JV, paid an assessment of £86 million (approximately $138 million in U.S. dollars) in October 2014 to HMRC for denied VAT refund claims filed in connection with the purchase of carbon credit allowances by RBS SEE, a subsidiary of RBS Sempra Commodities. RBS SEE has since been sold to J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and later to Mercuria Energy Group, Ltd. HMRC asserted that RBS was not entitled to reduce its VAT liability by VAT paid on certain carbon credit purchases during 2009 because RBS knew or should have known that certain vendors in the trading chain did not remit their own VAT to HMRC. After paying the assessment, RBS filed a Notice of Appeal of the assessment with the First-Tier Tribunal. Trial on the matter, which could include the assessment of a penalty of up to 100% of the claimed amount, is scheduled to begin in June 2021.
In 2015, liquidators filed a claim in the High Court of Justice against RBS and Mercuria Energy Europe Trading Limited (the Defendants) on behalf of 10 companies (the Liquidating Companies) that engaged in carbon credit trading via chains that included a company that traded directly with RBS SEE. The claim alleges that the Defendants’ participation in the purchase and sale of carbon credits resulted in the Liquidating Companies’ carbon credit trading transactions creating a VAT liability they were unable to pay, and that the Defendants are liable to provide for equitable compensation due to dishonest assistance and for compensation under the U.K. Insolvency Act of 1986. Trial on the matter was held in June and July of 2018. In March 2020, the High Court of Justice rendered its judgment mostly in favor of the Liquidating Companies and awarded damages of approximately £45 million (approximately $62 million in U.S. dollars at March 31, 2021), plus costs and interest. In October 2020, the High Court of Justice assessed costs and interest to be approximately £21 million (approximately $29 million in U.S. dollars at March 31, 2021) as of that date, with interest continuing to accrue. The Defendants appealed the March 2020 judgment, and a hearing in the Court of Appeal was held in March 2021. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has notified us that Mercuria Energy Group, Ltd. has sought indemnity for the claim, and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. has in turn sought indemnity from Sempra Energy and RBS.
Although the final outcome of both the High Court of Justice case and First-Tier Tribunal case remains uncertain, we recorded $100 million in equity losses from our investment in RBS Sempra Commodities in Equity Earnings on the Sempra Energy Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations in the three months ended March 31, 2020, which represents an estimate of our obligations to settle pending tax matters and related legal costs.
Asbestos Claims Against EFH Subsidiaries
Certain EFH subsidiaries that we acquired as part of the merger of EFH with an indirect subsidiary of Sempra Energy are defendants in personal injury lawsuits brought in state courts throughout the U.S. As of April 30, 2021, four such lawsuits are pending, all of which have been served. These cases allege illness or death as a result of exposure to asbestos in power plants designed and/or built by companies whose assets were purchased by predecessor entities to the EFH subsidiaries, and generally assert claims for product defects, negligence, strict liability and wrongful death. They seek compensatory and punitive damages. Additionally, in connection with the EFH bankruptcy proceeding, approximately 28,000 proofs of claim were filed on behalf of persons who allege exposure to asbestos under similar circumstances and assert the right to file such lawsuits in the future. None of these claims or lawsuits were discharged in the EFH bankruptcy proceeding. The costs to defend or resolve these lawsuits and the amount of damages that may be imposed or incurred could have a material adverse effect on Sempra Energy’s cash flows, financial condition and results of operations.
We are also defendants in ordinary routine litigation incidental to our businesses, including personal injury, employment litigation, product liability, property damage and other claims. Juries have demonstrated an increasing willingness to grant large awards, including punitive damages, in these types of cases.
LEASES
We discuss leases further in Note 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the Annual Report.
A lease exists when a contract conveys the right to control the use of an identified asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration. We determine if an arrangement is or contains a lease at inception of the contract.
Some of our lease agreements contain nonlease components, which represent activities that transfer a separate good or service to the lessee. As the lessee for both operating and finance leases, we have elected to combine lease and nonlease components as a single lease component for real estate, fleet vehicles, power generating facilities, and pipelines, whereby fixed or in-substance fixed payments allocable to the nonlease component are accounted for as part of the related lease liability and ROU asset. As the lessor, we have elected to combine lease and nonlease components as a single lease component for real estate, power generating facilities and terminals if the timing and pattern of transfer of the lease and nonlease components are the same and the lease component would be classified as an operating lease if accounted for separately.
Lessee Accounting
We have operating and finance leases for real and personal property (including office space, land, fleet vehicles, machinery and equipment, warehouses and other operational facilities) and PPAs with renewable energy and peaker plant facilities.
We provide supplemental noncash information for operating and finance leases below.
SUPPLEMENTAL NONCASH INFORMATION
(Dollars in millions)
Three months ended March 31, 2021
Sempra Energy ConsolidatedSDG&ESoCalGas
Increase in operating lease obligations for ROU assets$$— $
Increase in finance lease obligations for investment in PP&E15 
Three months ended March 31, 2020
Sempra Energy ConsolidatedSDG&ESoCalGas
Increase in operating lease obligations for ROU assets$19 $— $— 
Increase in finance lease obligations for investment in PP&E20 16 
Leases that Have Not Yet Commenced
SDG&E has entered into a battery storage tolling agreement that it expects will commence in the third quarter of 2021. SDG&E expects to account for the tolling agreement as an operating lease upon commencement, and expects the future minimum lease payments to be $3 million in 2021, $10 million in each of 2022 through 2025 and $101 million thereafter until expiration in 2036.
Lessor Accounting
Sempra Mexico is a lessor for certain of its natural gas and ethane pipelines, compressor stations, LPG storage facilities and a liquid fuels terminal.
Generally, we recognize operating lease income on a straight-line basis over the lease term and evaluate the underlying asset for impairment. Certain of our leases contain rate adjustments or are based on foreign currency exchange rates that may result in lease payments received that vary in amount from one period to the next.
We provide information below for leases for which we are the lessor.
LESSOR INFORMATION ON THE CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS – SEMPRA ENERGY
(Dollars in millions)
Three months ended March 31,
20212020
Fixed lease payments(1)
$53 $50 
Depreciation expense10 10 
(1)     Included in Revenues: Energy-Related Businesses on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.
CONTRACTUAL COMMITMENTS
We discuss below significant changes in the first three months of 2021 to contractual commitments discussed in Notes 1 and 16 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the Annual Report.
LNG Purchase Agreement
Sempra LNG has a sale and purchase agreement for the supply of LNG to the ECA Regas Facility. The commitment amount is calculated using a predetermined formula based on estimated forward prices of the index applicable from 2021 to 2029. Although this agreement specifies a number of cargoes to be delivered, under its terms, the customer may divert certain cargoes, which would reduce amounts paid under the agreement by Sempra LNG. At March 31, 2021, we expect the commitment amount to decrease by $67 million in 2021, increase by $37 million in 2022, increase by $35 million in 2023, increase by $29 million in 2024, increase by $23 million in 2025 and increase by $86 million thereafter (through contract termination in 2029) compared to December 31, 2020, reflecting changes in estimated forward prices since December 31, 2020 and actual transactions for the first three months of 2021. These LNG commitment amounts are based on the assumption that all LNG cargoes, less those already confirmed to be diverted, under the agreement are delivered. Actual LNG purchases in the current and prior years have been significantly lower than the maximum amount provided under the agreement due to the customer electing to divert cargoes as allowed by the agreement.