Sempra Energy pulling out of Greenville

Sempra Energy has finally confirmed something that has been discussed privately in Greenville business circles for months: It's closing its local office.

The San Diego-based energy services holding company is scheduled to close the 21-employee office at RiverPlace by the end of July, said Steve Schooff, a company spokesman.

That's less than three years after Sempra announced it would open the office, part of its Sempra U.S. Gas & Power business.

When The Greenville News inquired about the fate of the office back in December, Schooff said he had no details to provide.

Now he's citing changes in the company's strategy.

"Over the past two years, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power has increased its focus on the development of large natural gas midstream infrastructure projects, and we believe the relocation will better position the company to capture new market opportunities," Schooff said.

Mike Gallagher, a Sempra regional president who was in charge of the 17,000-square-foot office, told The Greenville News in 2012 that the company planned to assign up to 40 white-collar workers to it "and as we grow the businesses in the Southeast, we'll grow this office to support them."

Gallagher said at the time that he used to work for Duke Energy and as a private consultant in Charlotte, that he had family in the Carolinas, a house on Lake Hartwell and a daughter at Clemson University.