LOS ANGELES, June 29, 2017—Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced the company will award $450,000 in grants to environmental nonprofits this year as part of its third annual Environmental Champions Initiative, a fund that supports projects focused on clean air, energy or water.  The company will accept applications from qualified 501c3 organizations within its service territory from now until Aug. 18.

SoCalGas has awarded more than $1 million to environmental nonprofits over the past two years alone. Last year, 43 organizations received grants in amounts ranging from $10,000 to $25,000. The prior year, the company gave grants to 37 organizations. 

“The Environmental Champions Initiative is just one way SoCalGas invests in creating a cleaner and healthier future for California,” said George Minter, regional vice president of external affairs and environmental strategy at SoCalGas.  “The nonprofits we select as Environmental Champions deliver high-impact programs spanning a wide variety of environmental issues. We continue to be impressed with the breadth and depth of the innovative projects we have supported with the fund.”

Clean and renewable energy, neighborhood restoration and air quality monitoring and reporting are just a few of the types of projects that past Environmental Champions have worked on.

“Many schools are located near busy freeways in Los Angeles County, which unfortunately means that our youth are exposed to dangerous levels of air pollution regularly,” said Scott Chan, program director of Special Service for Groups/Asian Pacific Islander Forward Movement, one of last year’s recipients. “Through the generous support of SoCalGas, we engaged and empowered youth in the areas of citizen science and advocacy and worked to make schools a safer place for them to be healthy.”

Additional information on the Environmental Champions Initiative, including full eligibility and application information, is available here.

About SoCalGas

Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest natural gas distribution utility in the United States, providing clean, safe, affordable and reliable natural gas service to 21.7 million customers in Central and Southern California. Its service territory spans 22,000 square miles from Fresno to the Mexican border, reaching more than 550 communities through 5.9 million meters and 101,000 miles of pipeline. More than 90 percent of Southern California single-family home residents use natural gas for home heat and hot water. In addition, natural gas plays a key role in providing electricity to Californians—about 60 percent of electric power generated in the state comes from gas-fired power plants.  

SoCalGas has served communities in California for 150 years and is committed to being a leader in the region’s clean energy future. The company has committed to spending $6 billion over the next five years to modernize and upgrade its gas infrastructure, while also reducing methane emissions. SoCalGas is working to accelerate the use of renewable natural gas, a carbon-neutral or carbon-negative fuel created by capturing and conditioning greenhouse gas emissions from farms, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. The company is a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.  

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