Sempra Energy Awards More Than $200,000 Under 2009 Scholarship Program

2009-06-29 23:12:03 -

SAN DIEGO, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 06/29/09 -- Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) has awarded more than $200,000 in college scholarships to 38 high school seniors as part of the company's annual scholarship program for children of employees.

The program offers support to the students as they continue their education at a four-year college or university, community college, or trade or technical school.

"This marks the 10th anniversary of Sempra Energy's scholarship program,"
said G. Joyce Rowland, senior vice president of human resources for Sempra Energy. "Since the program's inception, we have awarded more than $1.8 million in scholarships to help 340 students advance their education."

To maintain impartiality in the selection of recipients, the program was administered by Scholarship Management Services®, a division of Scholarship America®, the nation's largest non-profit, private-sector scholarship and educational support organization. The top scholarship applicants were then interviewed by a panel of Sempra Energy executives to determine grand-prize winners. All winners were selected based on academic and non-academic criteria, including: academic achievement, leadership, community involvement, work experience, extra-curricular activities, educational goals, career aspirations and educators' appraisals.

The scholarship winners can use the funds for tuition and fees, room and board, books and other required tools at a college or university. The funds also may be used to pursue a trade such as computer programming, auto mechanics, welding, pipe-fitting or any other profession at an accredited vocational or technical school.

The California winners of the company's grand-prize scholarship of $16,000 were: Melissa Roadman of Mt. Carmel High School and Steven Xu of Westview High School, both in San Diego; Andrew Liang of Gretchen Whitney High School in Cerritos; Katherine Wei of Calabasas High School; Sabrina Amaro of Canyon High School in Canyon Country; Jessica Lin of Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in Rolling Hills Estates. Additionally, Edward Song of the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora, Ill., earned a $16,000 scholarship.

  The following students received one-year, $4,000 scholarships:

  California

  Colleen Couey, San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts
  Lauren Fratamico, Scripps Ranch High School (San Diego)
  Bradley Jensen, High Tech High School (San Diego)
  Keith McKay, Torrey Pines High School (San Diego)
  Erica Trimble, La Jolla High School
  Rachel Bristol, El Capitan High School (Lakeside)
  Sepehr Raja, Santa Monica High School
  Khyrysta Renteria, St. Monica Catholic High School (Santa Monica)
  Chelsea Stevenson, Saugus High School
  Ashley Chorpash, Saugus High School
  Sherry Wong, West Covina High School
  Emily Choh, Gretchen Whitney High School (Cerritos)
  Megan Meyer, Tesoro High School (Rancho Santa Margarita)
  Olga Parvin, Arnold O. Beckman High School (Irvine)
  Paula Lacson, John W. North High School (Riverside)
  Ebony Breaux, Canyon Springs High School (Moreno Valley)
  Kamy Harris, Rim of the World High School (Lake Arrowhead)

  Outside California

  Taylor Blalack, UMS-Wright High School (Mobile, Ala.)
  Glenn Garvin Jr., Faith Academy High School (Mobile, Ala.)
  Courtney Langley, Kinder High School (Kinder, La.)
  Carlos Trujillo Hernandez, Colegio Estudios Cientificos (Tijuana, Mexico)

  Additionally, 10 California students received one-year,
  $1,500 scholarships:

  Kyle Goguen, Point Loma High School (San Diego)
  Jennifer Tsao, Mt. Carmel High School (San Diego)
  Daniel Tuck, Vista High School
  Daniel Xochihua, Rancho Buena Vista High School (Vista)
  Rochelle Ramon, Eagles Peak Charter School (Vista)
  Megan Loehnert, Lakewood High School
  Kirstie Semien, San Clemente High School
  Mikaela Perez, Loara High School (Anaheim)
  Paul Strassel, El Camino High School (Ventura)
  Matthew Fazekas, Elsinore High School (Wildomar)

The 13,600 Sempra Energy employees whose children are eligible to apply for the scholarship program include those based both domestically and internationally with the parent company and its subsidiaries, including San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Gas Co., Sempra Generation, Sempra LNG and Sempra Pipelines & Storage.

Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2008 revenues of nearly $11 billion. The Sempra Energy companies serve more than 29 million consumers worldwide.

Media Contact:
Sabra Moallem
Sempra Energy
(877) 866-2066
www.sempra.com :