SAN DIEGO, March 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) kicked-off its annual Environmental Champions initiative, a $1 million charitable giving campaign that funds local environmental non-profit organizations in San Diego and southern Orange counties.

The SDG&E Environmental Champions initiative welcomes proposals from non-profit organizations for programs that educate K-12 youth and engage communities as stewards of the environment in SDG&E's service territory. 

Non-profit grant awardees will receive up to $25,000 for individual programs and up to $50,000 for innovative collaborative programs among partner environmental non-profit organizations.

"The work that these non-profits are doing is giving our youth a glimpse of what it takes to protect our region's natural resources, and we see this as an important investment in our future," said Michael Schneider, SDG&E's vice president of operations support and chief environmental officer. "At SDG&E, we lead by example on sustainability in our operations, and we support non-profits to help fulfill their environmental mission."

At today's kick-off luncheon at the New Children's Museum, Kids ECOClub, Outdoor Outreach, the Earth Discovery Institute, and Friends of Palomar Mountain State Park will present their environmental education programs to over 150 of their peers in the environmental community.

Non-profit organizations will have an opportunity to submit online applications through April 17.  Preference will be given to environmental programs that serve underserved youth and communities in one or more of the following areas: natural resource conservation and protection, habitat preservation and restoration, energy efficiency, and waste management/recycling. SDG&E plans to announce the winners early this summer.

SDG&E is a regulated public utility that provides safe and reliable energy service to 3.4 million consumers through 1.4 million electric meters and 878,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties. The utility's area spans 4,100 square miles. SDG&E is committed to creating ways to help customers save energy and money every day. SDG&E is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.  Connect with SDG&E's Customer Contact Center at 800-411-7343, on Twitter (@SDGE) and Facebook.

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SOURCE San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E)