As the nation’s largest natural gas utility, we are well aware of our responsibility to implement sustainable practices and remain a sound environmental steward. And, we gladly embrace this role.
We are proud to serve a region that places a high priority on environmental issues, with a wide array of organizations dedicated to important causes, such as urban greening, beach cleanups and clean air initiatives.
Among our activities in 2019:
Earth Month 2019
For the month of April, Community Relations gave employees the opportunity to get involved at five cleanup sites:
- Bolsa Chica Conservancy
- CA State Parks Foundation
- Center for Urban Agriculture at Fairview Gardens
- Friends of Ballona Wetlands
- Ventura Land Trust
Environmental Champions Initiative:
For the fifth consecutive year, we sponsored an Environmental Champions Initiative that solicited grant proposals for innovative projects in the areas of clean air, clean energy and organic waste diversion to biogas. We awarded 26 grants totaling nearly $400,000. Some projects of particular interest include:
- Los Angeles Conservation Corps: feeding the hungry and employing the jobless. This food waste prevention program diverts food waste from landfills and distributes edible foodstuffs to people in need. Inedible food waste is composted or converted to biofuel. All this activity affords the co-benefit of training and employing out-of-work young adults.
- Energy Independence Now: geared to engage legislative leaders, their senior staff and senior policymaking officials to better understand the transformative health, economic and environmental benefits of hydrogen-electric vehicles and renewable/carbon-free hydrogen, including the opportunities to store renewable energy via hydrogen injection into existing natural gas pipelines.
- San Bernardino Valley College Foundation: third time recipient, providing the ability to provide training in CNG heavy-duty truck environments. The project allows the College to expand training to provide proper drivability procedures for extensive fuel mileage in a CNG power heavy/medium duty truck, along with expansion of the CNG Engine repair in lab. Funds will be used to purchase training modules and tools needed to accommodate student demand for a second lab section.
- South Coast Botanic Garden Foundation: this garden’s so-called “trashy past” will, for the first time, be shared with visitors through a new and layered interpretation program. The Garden has a fascinating origin story – first as an open-pit mine, then a garbage landfill, later a source for natural gas, and finally a public garden. Guests will learn why the landfill was necessary for air pollution abatement, how the landfill was engineered with natural gas diversion for energy, and how we can reduce landfill volume.
Other organizations we support:
- Clean Air Day: SoCalGas joined forces with Coalition for Clean Air to bring the second annual Clean Air Day to fruition on October 2nd. SoCalGas had the most participants, out of the 316 companies and organizations that participated, with over 740 employees and customers to take the pledge.
- Renewable Energy Markets Conference: SoCalGas and SDG&E came together as city co-sponsors of the clean energy industry’s most important annual event focused on the states, businesses, organizations, and households that choose clean, renewable energy every day. SoCalGas introduced the first ever renewable natural gas (RNG) track to this once electric focused conference as well as developing work on a green-e certification for RNG.