SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced today that scholarship applications are now being accepted for college-bound high school as well as current college and continuing students. The awards from the company’s employee resource groups (ERGs) will mean that at least 170 students in PG&E’s Northern and Central California service area will receive from $1,000 to $10,000 next year for exemplary scholastic achievement and community leadership.

PG&E’s 10 ERGs—each representing the company’s diverse 20,000-plus workforce—award scholarships annually to help offset the cost of higher education. Scholarship information, including criteria and applications, is available on PG&E’s website. To be considered for a scholarship, all applications must be submitted by Feb. 1, 2017.

In 2016, PG&E’s ERGs awarded a record $430,000 in scholarships to 176 deserving students. Many recipients are the first in their families to attend college.

Since 1989, $4.5 million in scholarships have been awarded to thousands of recipients. The funds come from employee donations, fundraising events and Campaign for the Community, the company’s employee giving program.

“The cost of attending college continues to rise. The ERG scholarships help offset the cost of higher education while recognizing the positive accomplishments by students in their schools and communities,” said PG&E Director of Performance and Inclusion Joyce Ibardolasa, who’s also the board president of the Employee Community Fund, the umbrella charitable organization that provides governance for the ERG scholarships.

More than 5,000 PG&E employees belong to the ERGs. Each group helps contribute to the company’s commitment to serving its communities and growing employee engagement.

PG&E’s 10 ERGs include:

• Access Network (individuals with disabilities)
• Asian
• Black
• Latino
• Legacy (tenured employees)
• NuEnergy (new employees)
• PrideNetwork (LGBT employees)
• Samahan (Filipino)
• Veterans
• Women’s Network

In addition to the ERG scholarships, PG&E provides engineering and information technology (IT) scholarships to need-based high school and college students through its Better Together STEM Scholarships. The Pacific Service Employees Association (PSEA), a non-profit mutual benefit organization serving employees and retirees of PG&E, also provides scholarships for dependents of company employees.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and pge.com/news.

http://www.pgecurrents.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pacificgasandelectric

https://twitter.com/pge4me

http://www.linkedin.com/company/pacific-gas-and-electric-company

http://www.youtube.com/user/pgevideo

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161101006443/en/