CPUC: 2021 Utility Spending With Diverse Suppliers a ‘Great Accomplishment’

California Energy Markets

In 2021, 30 utilities and 15 community choice aggregators spent $12.3 billion, or 31.2 percent of their combined total budgets, with companies certified as women, minority, disabled-veteran or LGBT business enterprises (WMDVLGBTBE), the CPUC said at its Oct. 13 en banc.

This exceeded state goals and was a year-over-year increase of 1.1 percentage points, up from 30.1 percent in 2020.

Once challenge is that CCAs, which are public agencies, are prohibited by Proposition 209 from contracting based on WMDVLGBTBE status. IOUs can ask for this information before signing a contract.

But there are plenty of opportunities for CCAs to tackle these issues head-on. Alexandra McGee, manager of strategic initiatives for MCE, said one of the key issues identified at last year’s en banc was how to get more people through the door to address the challenge of diversity. MCE is in its fourth year of offering its “Certify and Amplify” event, designed to provide assistance with the CPUC certification process to qualified local businesses.

Read more here: CPUC: 2021 Utility Spending With Diverse Suppliers a ‘Great Accomplishment’ | Regulation Status | newsdata.com