As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2009

Registration No. 333-            

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

SEMPRA ENERGY

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

California		33-0732627
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

101 Ash Street

San Diego, California 92101-3017

(619) 696-2034

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including

area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

MOBILE GAS SERVICE CORPORATION EMPLOYEE SAVINGS PLAN

MOBILE GAS SERVICE CORPORATION BARGAINING UNIT EMPLOYEE SAVINGS PLAN

(Full title of the plan)

 

GARY W. KYLE, ESQ. Chief Corporate Counsel Sempra Energy 101 Ash Street San Diego, California 92101-3017 (619) 696-2034		Copy to:   BARRY CLARKSON, ESQ. REGINA M. SCHLATTER, ESQ. Latham & Watkins LLP 12636 High Bluff Drive, Suite 400 San Diego, California 92130 (858) 523-5400
(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Large accelerated filer  x		Accelerated filer  ¨		Non-accelerated filer  ¨ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)		Smaller reporting company  ¨

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered		Amount to be Registered		Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Share (1)		Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price (1)		Amount of Registration Fee
Common Stock, without par value(2)		2,000,000 shares(2)		$39.36		$78,720,000		$3,094

 

(1)

Estimated solely for the purposes of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(h) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and is based on the average of the high and low sales price of the Common Stock ($39.36), as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on February 23, 2009, pursuant to Rule 457(c).

 

(2)

In the event of a stock split, stock dividend, or similar transaction involving the Company’s Common Stock, the number of shares registered hereby shall automatically be increased to cover the additional shares in accordance with Rule 416(a) under the Securities Act. In addition, pursuant to Rule 416(c) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this registration statement also covers an indeterminate amount of plan interests to be offered or sold pursuant to the Mobile Gas Service Corporation Employee Savings Plan and the Mobile Gas Service Corporation Bargaining Unit Employee Savings Plan described herein. This registration statement covers 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock and an indeterminate amount of plan interests to be offered or sold pursuant to the Mobile Gas Service Corporation Employee Savings Plan, and this registration statement covers 1,000,000 shares of Common Stock and an indeterminate amount of plan interests to be offered or sold pursuant to the Mobile Gas Service Corporation Bargaining Unit Employee Savings Plan.

Proposed sale to take place from time to time after the effective date of the Registration Statement.

 

 

 

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PART I

The information called for in Part I of Form S-8 is not being filed with or included in this Form S-8 (by incorporation by reference or otherwise) in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”).

PART II

 

Item 3.

Incorporation of Documents by Reference

The following documents filed with the Commission by Sempra Energy (the “Company”), are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement:

 

A.

The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2008, filed with the Commission on February 24, 2009, pursuant to Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”);

 

B.

The description of the Company’s Common Stock contained in the Company’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A (Reg. No. 001-14201) filed with the Commission on June 5, 1998, including any subsequently filed amendments and reports updating such description.

All documents filed by the Company pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, after the date of this Registration Statement and prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered hereby have been sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and are a part hereof from the date of filing such documents. A report furnished on Form 8-K shall not be incorporated by reference into this Registration Statement. Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein or in any other subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.

 

Item 4.

Description of Securities

Not applicable.

 

Item 5.

Interests of Named Experts and Counsel

Not applicable.

 

Item 6.

Indemnification of Directors and Officers

Section 317 of the Corporations Code of the State of California permits a corporation to provide indemnification to its directors and officers under certain circumstances. The Company’s Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation and its Amended and Restated Bylaws eliminate the liability of directors for monetary damages to the fullest extent permissible under California law and provide that indemnification for liability for monetary damages incurred by directors, officers and other agents of the Company shall be allowed, subject to certain limitations, in excess of the indemnification otherwise permissible under California law. In addition, the Company has indemnification agreements with each of its officers and directors that provide for indemnification for monetary damages to the fullest extent permissible under California law. The Company maintains liability insurance and is also insured against loss for which it may be required or permitted by law to indemnify its directors and officers for their related acts.

The directors and officers of the Company are covered by insurance policies indemnifying them against certain liabilities, including certain liabilities arising under the Securities Act, which might be incurred by them in such capacities and against which they cannot be indemnified by the Company.

 

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Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling the Company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, the Company has been informed that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.

 

Item 7.

Exemption from Registration Claimed

Not applicable.

 

Item 8.

Exhibits

See Index to Exhibits on page 8.

The Company has submitted or will submit a request for a determination letter with the Internal Revenue Service regarding each of the Plans in a timely manner and will timely make all changes required by the Internal Revenue Service in order to qualify the Plans under Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code.

 

Item 9.

Undertakings

 

(a)

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:

 

(1)

To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

 

(i)

To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

 

(ii)

To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of a prospectus filed with the Commission in accordance with Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement;

 

(iii)

To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement;

provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) shall not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in the registration statement.

 

(2)

That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

(3)

To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

 

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(b)

The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

 

(c)

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of San Diego, State of California, on this 27^th day of February, 2009.

 

POWER OF ATTORNEY

Each person whose signature appears below hereby authorizes and appoints Donald E. Felsinger, Javade Chaudhri and Neal E. Schmale, and each of them, as attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, to sign on his or her behalf, individually and in the capacities stated below, and to file any and all amendments, including post-effective amendments, to this Registration Statement and other documents in connection therewith, with the Commission, granting to said attorneys-in-fact and agents full power and authority to perform any other act on behalf of the undersigned required to be done in the premises.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act, this Registration Statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities indicated on February 27, 2009.

 

Signature		Title
/s/ Donald E. Felsinger Donald E. Felsinger		Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (Principal Executive Officer)
/s/ Mark A. Snell Mark A. Snell		Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)
/s/ Joseph A. Householder Joseph A. Householder		Senior Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer (Principal Accounting Officer)
/s/ James G. Brocksmith, Jr. James G. Brocksmith, Jr.		Director
/s/ Richard A. Collato Richard A. Collato		Director
/s/ Wilford D. Godbold, Jr. Wilford D. Godbold, Jr.		Director
/s/ William D. Jones William D. Jones		Director

 

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/s/ Richard G. Newman Richard G. Newman		Director
/s/ William G. Ouchi William G. Ouchi		Director
/s/ William C. Rusnack William C. Rusnack		Director
/s/ William P. Rutledge William P. Rutledge		Director
/s/ Carlos Ruiz Carlos Ruiz		Director
/s/ Lynn Schenk Lynn Schenk		Director
/s/ Neal E. Schmale Neal E. Schmale		Director

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), the trustee (or other persons who administer the Mobile Gas Service Corporation Employee Savings Plan and the Mobile Gas Service Corporation Bargaining Unit Employee Savings Plan) has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of San Diego, State of California, on this 27^th day of February, 2009.

 

 

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INDEX TO EXHIBITS

 

EXHIBIT
5.1		Opinion of Gary W. Kyle, Esq.
23.1		Consent of Gary W. Kyle, Esq. (included in Exhibit 5.1)
23.2		Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP
23.3		Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP
24.1		Powers of Attorney (included on signature page to this Registration Statement)

 

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Exhibit 5.1

[Sempra Letterhead]

February 25, 2009

Sempra Energy

Board of Directors

101 Ash Street

San Diego, California 92101

 

RE:

Registration Statement on Form S-8

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am the Chief Corporate Counsel of Sempra Energy, a California corporation (the “Company”). I am delivering this opinion in connection with the registration statement on Form S-8 (the “Registration Statement”) being filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), of an aggregate of 2,000,000 shares (the “Shares”) of the Company’s common stock, without par value (“Common Stock”) under the Mobile Gas Service Corporation Employee Savings Plan and the Mobile Gas Service Corporation Bargaining Unit Employee Savings Plan (the “Plans”).

In my capacity as Chief Corporate Counsel of the Company, I am familiar with the proceedings taken, and proposed to be taken, by the Company in connection with the authorization, issuance and sale of the Shares and, for the purposes of this opinion, I have assumed such proceedings will be timely completed in the manner presently proposed.

As such counsel, I have examined such matters of fact and questions of law considered appropriate for purposes of rendering the opinion expressed below. In my examination, I have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the authenticity of all documents submitted as originals, and the conformity to authentic original documents of all documents submitted to me as copies. With your consent I have relied upon certificates of an officer of the Company and others with respect to certain factual matters. I have not independently verified such factual matters.

With respect to the opinion expressed below, I am opining herein as to the effect on the subject transaction only of the internal laws of the State of California, and I express no opinion with respect to the applicability thereto, or the effect thereon, of the laws of any other jurisdiction, or as to any matters of municipal law or the laws of any other local agencies or instrumentalities within any state or jurisdiction.

Subject to the foregoing and in reliance thereon, it is my opinion that, upon the issuance and sale of the Shares in the manner contemplated by the Registration Statement and in accordance with the terms of the applicable Plan, and subject to the Company completing all action and proceedings required on its part to be taken prior to the issuance of the Shares pursuant to the terms of the applicable Plan and the Registration Statement, including, without limitation, receipt of legal consideration in excess of the par value of the Shares issued, the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable securities of the Company.

With your consent, I have assumed for purposes of the opinion paragraph above that: (i) some or all of the Shares may be delivered through the Depository Trust Company’s automated system for deposits and withdrawals of securities, (ii) the issuance of the Shares will be recorded in the books of the Company, and (iii) the Company will comply with all applicable notice requirements of Section 416 of the California General Corporation Law.

This opinion is rendered only to the Company and is solely for the benefit of the Company in connection with the transaction covered hereby. This opinion may not be relied upon by you for any other purpose, or furnished to, quoted to or relied upon, by any other person, firm or corporation for any purpose, without my prior written consent.

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I consent to your filing this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement. In giving such consent, I do not thereby admit that I am in the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Act or the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder.

 

Exhibit 23.2

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

We consent to the incorporation by reference in this Registration Statement on Form S-8 of Sempra Energy of our reports dated February 23, 2009, relating to the consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedule of Sempra Energy and subsidiaries and the effectiveness of Sempra Energy’s internal control over financial reporting, appearing in and incorporated by reference in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Sempra Energy for the year ended December 31, 2008.

 

Exhibit 23.3

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

We consent to the incorporation by reference in this Registration Statement on Form S-8 of Sempra Energy of our report dated February 19, 2009, relating to the consolidated financial statements of RBS Sempra Commodities LLP and subsidiaries, appearing in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Sempra Energy for the year ended December 31, 2008.