The Green Students Program deployed highly trained green professionals into high school classrooms to educate and empower students to “go green” and live more sustainably, both at school and at home. The hands-on, practical lessons were designed to inspire the students to be good environmental stewards while reinforcing literacy, math and science skills. The presentations were free to City of San Diego high schools with funding from the city through a partnership with SDG&E. During the 2011-2012 school year, more than 6,000 students were reached during 35 events.

The South Orange County Energy Connection was an outreach program conducted by CCSE for SDG&E to engage and educate utility customers in the area about energy efficiency and reducing regional energy consumption by assisting in driving the development, both on supply side and demand side, of a sustainable market for energy efficiency, distributed generation and alternative fuel vehicles. The program ran from May through December 2012.

A decade of public education in partnership with SDG&E

Many tens of thousands of San Diegans learned firsthand about a variety of sustainable energy topics, from solar power and water heating to home energy efficiency and electric vehicles, at the San Diego Energy Resource Center ( SDERC) housed at CCSE’s Balboa Avenue location from 2002 to 2012. The SDERC closed in November 2012, marking the end of a ten-year cooperative program jointly provided by CCSE and SDG&E with funding from California utility customers under the auspices of the California Public Utilities Commission.

In 2011, the California Center for Sustainable Energy ( CCSE) received a $923,000 grant to incentivize ground transportation fleet operators at San Diego International Airport to switch to clean or alternative fuel vehicles. The funds created the Airport Vehicle Rebate Program ( AVRP) and were leveraged with the support of publicprivate partners and unique outreach and education efforts to put more than 90 hybrid taxicabs into operation in nine months—more than 30% of San Diego’s airport fleet.

The Tax-Exempt Customer ( TEC) Program addresses the barriers tax-exempt organizations face when considering energy upgrades and renewable energy installations. Administered by CCSE, TEC provides advice and incentives for energy-efficiency measures proposed by local governments, military and K-12 schools under the SDG&E Energy Savings Bid Program. Originally slated to end in 2008 after two years of operation, TEC was extended through 2009 by the California Public Utilities Commission.