Edison Electric Institute (EEI) today honored three electric utilities for their work in advancing opportunities for women, minorities, and service-disabled/veteran-owned businesses to compete as suppliers to the electric power industry. The awards are given annually in recognition of the electric power industry’s continuing efforts to promote economic growth and prosperity in the communities they serve.
Pacific Gas & Electric Company won the industry’s overall excellence award, and Georgia Power and Vectren Corporation were each recognized for their innovative efforts to encourage diversity among their company’s suppliers.
“These electric companies deserve praise for their exceptional commitment to developing a supplier base that reflects their local communities,” said EEI President Thomas R. Kuhn. “Their efforts help to keep them among the nation’s most competitive electric and natural gas delivery companies in the country. They also help the U.S. electric power industry to be among the strongest industries in the world.”
In winning the industry’s overall excellence award, Pacific Gas & Electric (www.pge.com) was recognized for its consistent, organization-wide commitment to encouraging supplier diversity.
PG&E spent a combined total of $1.13 billion dollars on purchases from women, minority, and service-disabled veteran-owned businesses in 2010. Typically, less than 20 companies in the nation reach the billion-dollar milestone in any one year.
To accomplish it, PG&E undertook a wide variety of initiatives. These included training within the company at both the executive and employee level. PG&E also conducted outreach at the local, state, and national levels, including promoting purchasing opportunities to ethnic chambers of commerce and business organizations. And the company branded their supplier diversity effort with sponsorships and partnerships.
Electric companies earn the EEI Supplier Diversity Innovation award by setting a standard for other companies to follow. Georgia Power (www.georgiapower.com) advances the development of diverse suppliers, and also provides supply chain flexibility for the company’s business units. Vectren Corporation (www.vectren.com) earned its innovation award for its various outreach efforts, which enable it to include a wider range of qualified suppliers from all segments of the business community.
For the past 28 years, EEI has recognized those electric companies who have demonstrated leadership in advancing purchasing opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses. Contracts with power companies during this time have gone from being written for such traditional services as office supplies and temporary personnel, to critical industry areas such as underground and overhead line construction, meter reading, nuclear engineering services, construction management, and pension fund management.
For more information about the industry’s supplier diversity program, please visit: www.eei.org/diversity.