Corporate Copywriting: Fact sheet, Newletter sampels

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Corporate Copywriting PORTFOLIO Table of Contents: SoCalGas News: Give the Gift of Warmth SoCalGas News: Spring Into Innovation SoCalGas Natural Gas Vehicles Case Study: LA Metro SoCalGas: Natural Gas Vehicles Case Study: Ryder SoCalGas: Natural Gas Vehicles Case Study: LAUSD

Transcript of Corporate Copywriting: Fact sheet, Newletter sampels

Corporate Copywriting

PORTFOLIO

Table of Contents: SoCalGas News: Give the Gift of Warmth SoCalGas News: Spring Into Innovation SoCalGas Natural Gas Vehicles Case Study: LA Metro SoCalGas: Natural Gas Vehicles Case Study: Ryder SoCalGas: Natural Gas Vehicles Case Study: LAUSD

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Give the gift of warmth

Caring customers like you have the power to provideimmediate aid and hope for those in need by helping lessfortunate members of our communities stay warm thiswinter.

How it worksThe Gas Assistance Fund enables local nonprofit agenciesto provide emergency bill payment assistance to seniors,disabled individuals or newly unemployed with a one-timegrant for the amount of their gas bill (not to exceed $100).

Doubling your donationThe Gas Assistance Fund doubles the effect of yourdonations through matching shareholder contributions. Ifyou donate $25, then shareholders will also donate $25.

Please make a contribution today!

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SoCalGas <[email protected]>To: [email protected]: [email protected] the Gift of Warmth

December 12, 2013 2:17 PM

NEWSSPRING 2013

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SPRING INTO INNOVATION WITH THE GAS COMPANYSM

NATURAL GAS: DID YOU KNOW?

This spring customers of The Gas Company ask: Can we be financially savvy and make our world cleaner and greener? The answer is yes! At The Gas Company, our renewable energy, energy-efficiency, natural gas vehicles, and sustainability programs are leading the way for a cleaner, more sustainable future. We are committed to the research and development of innovative environmental technology, while being a responsible steward of our limited natural resources. As the nation’s largest natural gas distribution utility, we actively minimize our impact on air and water quality, sensitive habitats and natural resources.

It warms your home, cooks your food and is the energy-efficient, clean-burning fuel supply for local industry in Southern California. Natural gas is the pride of The Gas Company: it is cleaner and less expensive than gasoline or diesel. But The Gas Company’s commitment to this abundant and inexpensive, energy solution goes way beyond the pipeline. Our customers, from homeowners and tenants to fleet operators, know they are saving money and helping the environment when they make the switch to natural gas. And, because they need a reliable fuel supply, customers have come to rely on The Gas Company’s technical expertise and natural gas service for more than 140 years!

Did You Know That Natural Gas is the Fuel of Choice for:• Millions of residential customers of The Gas Company.

Natural gas provides residential customers with cheaper, cleaner energy for heating their homes, cooking their food, and running their appliances.

• Thousands of natural gas vehicle (NGV) owners throughout the world. Ninety Eight percent of The Gas Company customers surveyed state they are happy with their decision to purchase an NGV.

• Passenger bus fleets throughout the world including more than 2,250 Metro buses in Southern California alone. Natural gas buses have enabled L.A.’s transit giant to reduce cancer-causing particulates by

98 percent, carbon monoxide by 80 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by about 150 metric tons per day since switching from diesel to natural gas.

• More than 400 Los Angeles School District (LAUSD) natural gas school buses. Natural gas buses have enabled LAUSD to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 2,595 metric tons, a 7.5 percent reduction, as of 2007.

• Commercial trucking fleets nationwide and throughout Southern California. Natural gas trucks reduce vehicle carbon monoxide emissions by 90 to 97 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 25 percent.

PRIMAVERA DE 2013

NOTICIASThe Gas Company

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CAN ALGAE REALLY REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS?

GAS NATURAL: ¿SABÍA USTED QUE?

VEHÍCULOS DE GAS NATURAL: MAGNÍFICOS INCENTIVOS. GRANDES AHORROS.

It may sound like science fiction, but beginning last year, the combined efforts of The Gas Company and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California San Diego has helped make an unusual technical innovation a reality. The two institutions worked collaboratively to design a unique, green, energy-production system. The system will use algae to consume carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from natural gas combustion and cost-effectively convert the algae into valuable byproducts such as biomethane, biodiesel and animal feed.

Our efforts to capture and reuse CO2 range from algae to rocket technology. The new partnership will also be conducting an investigative research and systems engineering study to explore how algae production systems currently in development could most effectively capture industrial CO2 emissions, including natural gas power plants, natural gas compression equipment, water pumps and boilers. Just north of Bakersfield, The Gas Company’s technology partner is testing the first natural gas power plant with 100 percent CO2 capture. So, Sci-Fi fans take note: What was once thought of as being pure science fiction is happening now, right here at The Gas Company.

Calienta la casa, cocina la comida y es la fuente de abastecimiento de combustible eficiente en energía y de combustión limpia de la industria local del sur de California. El gas natural es el orgullo de The Gas Company: es más limpio y menos costoso que la gasolina o el diésel. Pero el compromiso de The Gas Company con esta solución energética abundante y barata va más allá de la tubería. Nuestros clientes, desde el propietario y los inquilinos de una casa hasta los operadores de flotas, saben que están ahorrando dinero y ayudando al medio ambiente cuando cambian a gas natural. ¡Y en virtud de que necesitan una fuente de abastecimiento de combustible confiable, han llegado a confiar de la pericia técnica y el servicio de gas natural de The Gas Company por más de 140 años!

Conducir un vehículo de gas natural (VGN) puede disminuir el tiempo que pasa en el tráfico, reducir su huella de carbono y recortar drásticamente sus costos de combustible. Ahora, dos nuevos programas de incentivos están haciendo que el costo y la comodidad de tener un VGN sean aún más atractivos.

Compre un vehículo de gas natural Honda Civic 2012 nuevo, mientras duren las existencias, y reciba una tarjeta de combustible con valor de $3,000 para vehículos de gas natural comprimido (GNC) para usarse en estaciones de GNC Clean Energy o una tarjeta de débito con valor de $2,000 que puede usarse en cualquier estación de GNC de la localidad. Después de eso, puede anticipar que el GNC le va a costar aproximadamente $2.10* por galón (equivalente). Para detalles, visite automobiles.honda.com/civic-natural-gas/incentives.aspx***

Reabastecer su vehículo de gas natural en casa también se ha vuelto más económico y cómodo. Ay un crédito al impuesto federal de $1000 y también el Distrito para el Manejo de la Calidad del Aire de la Costa Sur (AQMD, por sus siglas en inglés) en la compra de un aparato de reabastecimiento de gas natural en casa (HRA, por sus siglas en inglés). El “Phill” HRA se puede comprar en Mansfield Gas Equipment Services. Para los requisitos de participación o para obtener más información, visite mansfieldgasequipment.com****Fuente: AFDC Annual Fuel Price Report, Enero 2013. Los precios varían mes por mes.**Los incentivos se ofrecerán hasta que se agoten los fondos.*** Información disponible sólo en Inglés

NATURAL GAS VEHICLES: GREAT INCENTIVES. BIG SAVINGS.If you drive a natural gas vehicle (NGV) you can get access to the carpool lane as a solo driver, reduce your carbon footprint and dramatically lower your fuel costs. Now, two new incentive programs are making the cost and convenience of owning an NGV even more enticing.

Purchase a new 2012 Honda Civic natural gas vehicle, while supplies last, and receive a $3,000 compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicle fuel card for use at Clean Energy CNG stations or a $2,000 debit card that can be used at any local CNG station. After that, the price can be around $2.10* per gallon (gasoline equivalent) for CNG. For details, visit automobiles.honda.com/civic-natural-gas/incentives.aspx

Refueling your NGV at home has also become more affordable and convenient. There is a $1000 federal tax credit and The South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) is offering a $2000** incentive for a natural gas home refueling appliance (HRA). The “Phill” HRA is available from Mansfield Gas Equipment Services. For eligibility details or more information, visit mansfieldgasequipment.com*Source: AFDC Annual Fuel Price Report, Jan. 2013. Prices vary month-to-month.**Until funding is no longer available.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITYMoving people with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)With more than a million riders each day counting on their buses being on time, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) needs a clean, cost-efficient, reliable fuel supply. That’s why its entire fleet of more than 2,250 buses runs on CNG from the Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas®).

Metro is the largest transit property in the United States to switch fully to CNG. It is abundant, produced in the United States, inexpensive, and clean-burning. The transit giant chose SoCalGas because it needed a reliable, expert partner to keep the tanks filled. “It’s a good, effective partnership and an example of where our industry needs to be thinking,” says John Drayton, Metro’s manager of vehicle technology, who oversaw the transition from diesel-powered buses to CNG.

A billion miles with CNG Metro started considering alternative fuels in the 1970s. It studied and tried different options, including methanol and ethanol, which turned out to be far too damaging to bus engines. Then, in the 1990s, Metro bought hundreds of CNG buses, creating the first large fleet of its kind in North America.

“Natural gas is an incredible fuel stock, not just for Metro. Our whole country needs to be looking at this. Number one, it’s a very abundant, domestically-available fuel,” Drayton says. “Secondly, it’s fuel that is inherently clean. The cleaner the fuel coming in, the cleaner the (emissions) coming out.”

In early 2011, Metro passed its billionth mile on CNG-fueled buses and retired its last diesel bus.

“Fortunately, over the last 15 years, we’ve been able to see this technology mature and I don’t think the arguments have ever been more compelling that natural gas is the best alternative to diesel today in every respect and arguably is a better solution for many applications than diesel,” says Drayton.

A cleaner fuel for Southern California Drayton, who grew up in Southern California, remembers training with the Claremont High School track team at 6 a.m.,

because by the afternoons, smog alerts would keep the athletes indoors. “You would just watch the brownish-gray haze come up each afternoon,” he recalls.

Now the air in Los Angeles is remarkably cleaner, thanks in part to the use of natural gas in Metro’s buses. By switching to CNG, Metro has reduced cancer-causing particulates from the bus fleet by 98 percent, carbon monoxide by 80 percent and greenhouse gases by about 150 tons per day.

Clean-air incentives help offset costs Metro’s reduction in its vehicle emissions has also helped reduce some of its costs through air quality agency offsets. Transition costs were defrayed in part as the federal government helped pay for the new buses. And allowances from SoCalGas meant that Metro didn’t pay a dime for installation of its gas lines.

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“We’re running the cleanest buses in the world and we’re running them at a fuel cost that’s about 30 percent of diesel.”

NATURAL GAS VEHICLESCustomer Case Study

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Now Metro is paying far less for CNG than it would pay for diesel, as the cost of diesel fuel has spiked and become more volatile and the price of natural gas has remained stable.

“We’re seeing a tremendous fuel cost savings these days. We’re running the cleanest buses in the world and we’re running them at a fuel cost that’s about 30 percent of diesel,” Drayton says, pointing out that Metro is seeing fuel cost savings of approximately $60 million to $70 million each year.

A reliable partnership When it comes to getting customers from one part of the city to another, Metro knows all the twists and turns. But for navigating the switch from diesel to natural gas, the transit agency turned to SoCalGas and its account executives for the technical support and resources to make the change.

“We know how to roll our buses down Wilshire Boulevard and move people every day. That’s Metro’s bread and butter, moving people. We’re not compressor operators,” Drayton explains. “We’ve contracted out fueling, operating and maintaining that whole fueling system cheaper and more reliably than we could do it in-house.”

Whenever Metro has a question or a concern, SoCalGas’ account executive responds immediately, Drayton says. He adds that SoCalGas took Metro’s technical managers to the master facility for managing gas flow to demonstrate pipeline and storage capacities. “It’s very reassuring to know that SoCalGas is standing here behind all this,” Drayton says.

In fact, the fuel supplier has been so reliable, Metro doesn’t worry about fuel on a day-to-day basis. “We take it for granted that the fuel arrives here every day. Nobody wakes up in the morning going, ‘I wonder if SoCalGas is going to get us fuel this morning.’ I mean, it’s not even on our radar screen.“

CNG: The fuel of the futureNow that Metro has pioneered the transition of a massive bus fleet from diesel to CNG, it gets calls from other transit agencies interested in making the switch. Drayton believes natural gas will play an increasingly important role in the nation’s fuel needs as the nationwide infrastructure grows and fueling expands on major interstates. And CNG-fueled engines are gaining in reliability while diesel engines, being altered in an attempt to meet emission standards, are becoming more costly and relatively less reliable.

“CNG is the best answer out there,” Drayton says. “In terms of costs, in terms of economics, in terms of emissions, in terms of domestic fuel, if you’re the application that has access to pipeline natural gas, it’s the winning recommendation today.”

Find out moreTo find out if CNG is right for your transit, paratransit service or other fleet, contact your SoCalGas account executive or call 1-800-GAS-2000. Visit us online at socalgas.com (search “NGV”).

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“Nobody wakes up in the morning going, ‘I wonder if SoCalGas is going to get us fuel this morning.’”

RYDER: THE ROAD TO THE FUTURE AND CNGRyder System, Inc., a leading provider of commercial transportation and supply-chain management solutions, helps customers throughout North America, Europe and Asia operate more efficiently for their bottom lines and for the environment. One area in which Ryder is making significant inroads is providing compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles for rent or lease to commercial customers.

Ryder clients taking advantage of the fuel cost savings and environmental benefits of CNG in California include a national office supply chain as well as a regional discount retail chain, which signed a Ryder lease for a fleet of 40 CNG-fueled trucks. In Southern California, the reliable source for CNG is Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas®).

CNG: Abundant and reliableRyder has found that CNG is reliable and efficient. It is domestically available and its use reduces the country’s dependence on foreign oil. CNG is more in-demand than ever, with additional companies asking SoCalGas about switching their fleets to the alternative fuel.

“With natural gas technology, you can invest in a long-term domestic energy source that’s clean and abundant,” according to Ryder. “With more predictable pricing, you can minimize uncertainty and save money — today and tomorrow.”

Ryder: Recognized for green leadershipRyder’s use of alternative fuels has garnered praise in the business world. Inbound Logistics magazine has included Ryder in its Green Partners listing for five years in a row, and Newsweek has included Ryder in its ranking of the top 500 green U.S. companies for three years in a row.

CNG-fueled vehicles contribute to a company’s green credentials just as they reduce toxic pollutants in the atmosphere. Clean-burning CNG can reduce trucks’ carbon monoxide emissions by 90 to 97 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 25 percent. CNG-powered fleets, with no smog-producing particulate emissions, are a step on the path toward eliminating air pollution and reducing the reliance on petroleum imports.

Cutting costs with CNGRyder has been able to offset the costs of its new CNG trucks through air-quality and other agency grants.

Ryder’s partnership with the San Bernardino Associated Governments and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Clean Cities Coalition began in 2010 and includes the deployment of 202 heavy-duty natural gas-powered vehicles in Southern California. The $38.7 million project is being funded as part of a joint public/private industry partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, the California Energy Commission and Ryder.

Now Ryder’s customers are paying far less for CNG than they would for diesel. As the cost of diesel fuel has spiked and become more volatile, the price of natural gas has remained stable.

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“With natural gas technology, you can invest in a long-term domestic energy source that’s clean and abundant.”

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“It’s an economic discussion,” says Scott Perry, Ryder’s vice president of supply-chain management. “Natural gas is much more competitively priced across the marketplace compared to traditional diesel products.”

Customers demanding CNG More companies than ever are asking for natural gas vehicles, Ryder reports. Businesses are making the transition from diesel-fueled fleets to those powered by natural gas.

“We are hearing from many customers who are interested in taking advantage of the cost-saving and environmental benefits of natural gas,” says Perry.

It makes smart business sense: The fuel is cost-effective, environmentally sound and available throughout Southern California.

SoCalGas: The CNG expertsSoCalGas is the region’s expert in CNG. It partners with its customers in finding the right fleet solutions with CNG, whether a business needs its own fueling station or opts to utilize the network of public fueling stations throughout the region.

SoCalGas account executives work with fleet clients to connect them with resources for grants, tax credits and other incentives from public agencies encouraging or requiring businesses to use alternative fuels. The experts at SoCalGas offer the technical support that clients need to make the switch to CNG.

Ryder: 6 million miles on CNG…and countingRyder recently passed the 6-million-mile mark with its fleet of natural gas vehicles — including 215 CNG tractors — in California, Arizona and Michigan. Since Ryder deployed its natural gas truck program in 2011, its vehicles have displaced approximately 923,000 gallons of diesel fuel with domestically-produced natural gas. It has eliminated more than 2,300 metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions.

“We are committed to being a leader in providing flexible solutions that enable companies to successfully implement alternative fuel programs in their commercial truck operations,” says Ryder’s Perry. “It is sustainability made simple.”

Is CNG right for you?To find out if CNG is right for your trucking or other fleet, contact your SoCalGas account executive or call 1-800-427-2000. Visit us online at socalgas.com (search “NGV”).

“We are hearing from many customers who are interested in the cost-saving and environmental benefits of natural gas.”

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICTCNG school buses make the gradeWith more than 40,000 students counting on their school buses to pick them up in the morning and take them home in the afternoon, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) needs a clean, cost-efficient, reliable fuel supply. That’s why the nation’s second-largest school district turned to Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas®) to provide natural gas to fuel more than one-third of its entire school bus fleet.

LAUSD chose Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) because it is clean-burning, inexpensive and reliable. With the largest fleet of CNG school buses in California, the district chose SoCalGas because it needed an expert partner to keep the tanks filled.

“It’s a good product, it’s good for the environment and it serves us well,” says Donald Wilkes, LAUSD’s transportation director.

Yellow school buses go green! With the help of SoCalGas, LAUSD launched a pilot program in the 1980s, starting with four CNG-fueled school buses. Over the years, the district also considered buses fueled with methanol, and later considered electric vehicles, but decided CNG was the best alternative fuel choice. Currently 475 of the district’s school buses run on CNG.

“It’s a clean-burning fuel; you don’t have the fumes in your loading zones around school sites,” Wilkes says. “Anywhere we have kids and staff we want it to be as safe and healthful as possible.”

Wilkes knows how strong the fumes can be from diesel buses. The Southern California native drove a school bus in the 1980s. Hot days were a struggle between wanting to let air into the bus and fear that diesel fumes would seep in through the back windows. “The kids would complain. It’d be hot and they’d want to let the windows down and you’d have to deal with those fumes,” he recalls. “Moving to CNG, you don’t have that.”

The district began replacing many of its buses in the early 2000s. And in 2003, the school board passed the Healthy Breathing Initiative in an effort to green the district,

including its buses. The initiative specified a preference for new CNG buses. Since then the district has added two CNG fueling stations. Now parents notice fewer fumes at loading sites, and students learn the difference their own district can make for the environment.

By replacing hundreds of diesel buses with CNG-fueled vehicles, the district has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 2,595 metric tons, a 7.5% reduction just since 2007.

The arithmetic of incentives and fuel savingsLAUSD was able to use federal grants to pay most of the costs for its new CNG-fueled buses. The South Coast Air Quality Manage-ment District (SCAQMD) paid about 90% of the cost, Wilkes said.

And the district pays far less for CNG than for diesel. “It’s a cheaper gas-gallon equivalent compared to gasoline or diesel fuel,” Wilkes says, estimating that the cost per mile is about 20 cents cheaper overall for CNG than it would be for diesel. “That can be substantial when you multiply that out by the number of buses we have.”

(Continued on back)

“Anywhere we have kids and staff we want it to be as safe and healthful as possible.”

NATURAL GAS VEHICLESCustomer Case Study

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Furthermore, the price of natural gas has remained stable. “It’s not prone to the price spikes that you see with gas and diesel,” Wilkes says. “From a budgeting perspective you know what you’re going to pay. With gas and diesel, that can be uncertain.”

Another savings the school district has realized with CNG is the on-site, time-fill fueling system. Drivers park the buses in their stalls at the end of their shifts, connect the fueling system to the bus, leave it overnight and then disconnect it in the morning when the bus is fully fueled. The district gets the maximum mileage out of the bus each day and doesn’t have to pay the driver to wait for fueling. “It helps to cut costs,” Wilkes says.

A reliable partnership: LAUSD and SoCalGas LAUSD is expert at getting its students to class on time. But for learning how to navigate the world of compressed natural gas, the massive district turned to SoCalGas and its account executives for the technical support and resources to fuel its buses.

When they entered into the relationship through CNG, SoCalGas account executives took the role of teacher, making sure LAUSD officials understood the transition process. “They’ve always been there” to answer questions, Wilkes

says. “They initiated many meetings to make sure we understood everything. It’s been a very positive relationship.”

CNG: At the head of the classNow that LAUSD has tested the transition process of changing much of its old diesel bus fleet to clean CNG, it gets calls from other school districts interested in switching.

“I always get questions about our fleet,” Wilkes says. He cites the grants available from SCAQMD for buying the buses as a plus. And for districts in the Southern California Gas Company service area, he says, the company’s reliability and knowledgeable staff make switching to CNG more feasible.

“SoCalGas has come aboard as a partner to help deliver compressed natural gas,” Wilkes says. “If you can get help with that infrastructure, that’s a big piece of it.”

Wilkes sees manufacturers adding to the variety of buses made to run on CNG. And when they offer smaller buses as well as the larger ones fueled by CNG, he sees even more districts following LAUSD’s path. The district’s transportation director believes CNG will play an ever-more important role in the transportation needs of school districts.

“CNG is still a better buy and just a better engine in regards to the environment” thanks to other options, Wilkes says. “I do see growth in the CNG market, as large fleet operators replace their vehicles. We’ve invested in CNG and we plan to stay with it.”

Find out moreTo find out if CNG is right for your bus service or other fleet, contact your SoCalGas account executive or call 1-800-427-2000. Visit us online at www.socalgas.com (search “NGV”).

“...the cost per mile is about 20 cents cheaper overall for CNG than it would be for diesel.”