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INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED ENTITIES
3 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2013
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Investments in Unconsolidated Entities

NOTE 4. INVESTMENTS IN UNCONSOLIDATED ENTITIES

We provide additional information concerning all of our equity method investments in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the Annual Report.

 

SEMPRA SOUTH AMERICAN UTILITIES

Sempra South American Utilities previously owned 43 percent of two Argentine natural gas utility holding companies, Sodigas Pampeana and Sodigas Sur. In December 2006, we decided to sell our Argentine investments and actively pursued their sale since that time. In the first quarter of 2013, we recorded a noncash impairment charge of $10 million ($7 million after-tax) to reduce the carrying value of our investments to estimated fair value. The net charge is reported in Equity Earnings, Net of Income Tax on the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations for the six months ended June 30, 2013. In June 2013, we completed the sale of our Argentine investments for $13 million in cash. Our results for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2013 include an additional $7 million loss ($4 million after-tax) on the sale, which is also included in Equity Earnings, Net of Income Tax. We provide additional information concerning our investments in Sodigas Pampeana and Sodigas Sur in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the Annual Report.

As a result of the devaluation of the Argentine peso at the end of 2001 and subsequent changes in the value of the peso, Sempra South American Utilities had reduced the carrying value of its investments by a cumulative total of $270 million prior to the sale. These noncash adjustments, based on fluctuations in the value of the Argentine peso, did not affect earnings, but were recorded in Comprehensive Income and Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss). As a result of the sale of our investments, this cumulative foreign currency translation adjustment was reclassified to Equity Earnings, Net of Income Tax, where it was substantially offset by the elimination of a $250 million accrued liability established in 2006.

Chilquinta Energía has entered into two 50-percent owned joint ventures, Eletrans S.A. and Eletrans II S.A. (collectively, Eletrans), with Sociedad Austral de Electricidad Sociedad Anónima (SAESA) to construct four transmission lines in Chile. In 2013, Eletrans entered into a forward exchange contract to manage the foreign currency exchange rate risk of the Chilean Unidad de Fomento (CLF) relative to the U.S. dollar, related to certain construction commitments that are denominated in CLF. The forward exchange contract settles based on anticipated payments to vendors, generally monthly, ending in November 2017. For the three months and six months ended June 30, 2013, we recorded $3 million of equity losses related to this forward contract in Equity Earnings, Net of Income Tax on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

SEMPRA RENEWABLES

Sempra Renewables invested $5 million and $243 million in its wind generation joint ventures in the six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012, respectively.

In May 2013, Sempra Renewables entered into agreements with Consolidated Edison Development (ConEdison Development) to sell 50-percent interests in its 150-MW Copper Mountain Solar 2 and 150-MW Mesquite Solar 1 solar power facilities. In July 2013, the sale of 50 percent of our equity in Copper Mountain Solar 2 to ConEdison Development was consummated. At June 30, 2013, Copper Mountain Solar 2 had approximately $267 million in net property, plant and equipment and $146 million in long-term debt.

SEMPRA NATURAL GAS

Sempra Natural Gas owns a 25-percent interest in Rockies Express Pipeline LLC (Rockies Express), a partnership that operates a natural gas pipeline, the Rockies Express Pipeline (REX), that links producing areas in the Rocky Mountains region to the upper Midwest and the eastern United States. In November 2012, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. (KMP) sold its 50-percent interest in Rockies Express, as part of a larger asset group, to Tallgrass Energy Partners, L.P. (Tallgrass). Phillips 66 owns the remaining interest of 25 percent. Our total investment in Rockies Express is accounted for as an equity method investment.

The general partner of KMP is Kinder Morgan, Inc. (KMI). As a condition of KMI receiving antitrust approval from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for its acquisition of El Paso Corporation, KMI agreed to divest certain assets in its natural gas pipeline group. Included in the asset group, as noted above, was KMP's interest in Rockies Express. KMP recorded remeasurement losses during 2012 associated with these operations (classified as discontinued operations by KMP). We recorded an impairment of our partnership investment in Rockies Express of $300 million ($179 million after-tax) in the quarter ended June 30, 2012, which is included in Equity Earnings (Losses), Before Income Tax on the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. Our remaining carrying value in Rockies Express as of June 30, 2013 is $339 million. We discuss the fair value measurement of our investment in Rockies Express in Note 11 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the Annual Report.

RBS SEMPRA COMMODITIES

RBS Sempra Commodities LLP (RBS Sempra Commodities) is a United Kingdom limited liability partnership that owned and operated commodities-marketing businesses previously owned by us. We and our partner in the joint venture, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS), sold substantially all of the partnership's businesses and assets in four separate transactions completed in 2010 and early 2011. We account for our investment in RBS Sempra Commodities under the equity method, and report our share of partnership earnings and other associated costs in Parent and Other.

In April 2011, we and RBS entered into a letter agreement (Letter Agreement) which amended certain provisions of the agreements that formed RBS Sempra Commodities. The Letter Agreement addresses the wind-down of the partnership and the distribution of the partnership's remaining assets. In accordance with the Letter Agreement, we received a distribution of $50 million in May 2013. The investment balance of $76 million at June 30, 2013 reflects remaining distributions expected to be received from the partnership in accordance with the Letter Agreement. The timing and amount of distributions may be impacted by the matters we discuss related to RBS Sempra Commodities in Note 10 under “Other Litigation.” In addition, amounts may be retained by the partnership for an extended period of time to help offset unanticipated future general and administrative costs necessary to complete the dissolution of the partnership.

In connection with the Letter Agreement described above, we also released RBS from its indemnification obligations with respect to the items for which J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JP Morgan), one of the buyers of the partnership's businesses, has agreed to indemnify us.

We recorded no equity earnings or losses related to the partnership for either the three months or six months ended June 30, 2013 and 2012.

We discuss the RBS Sempra Commodities sales transactions, the Letter Agreement and other matters concerning the partnership in Note 4 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements in the Annual Report.