(a) The commission shall require each electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, wireless telecommunications service provider, electric service provider, and telephone corporation with gross annual California revenues exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), and their commission-regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to submit annually a detailed and verifiable plan for increasing procurement from women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprises in all categories, including, but not limited to, renewable energy, energy storage system, wireless telecommunications, broadband, smart grid, vegetation management, and rail projects.
(b) These annual plans shall include short- and long-term goals and timetables, but not quotas, and shall include methods for encouraging both prime contractors and grantees to engage women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprises in subcontracts in all categories that provide subcontracting opportunities, including, but not limited to, renewable energy, energy storage system, wireless telecommunications, broadband, smart grid, vegetation management, and rail projects.
(c) The commission shall establish guidelines for all electrical corporations, gas corporations, water corporations, wireless telecommunications service providers, electric service providers, and telephone corporations with gross annual California revenues exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), and their commission-regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to be used in establishing programs pursuant to this article.
(d) Every electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, wireless telecommunications service provider, electric service provider, and telephone corporation with gross annual California revenues exceeding twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000) shall furnish an annual report to the commission regarding the implementation of programs established pursuant to this article in a form that the commission shall require, and at the time that the commission shall annually designate.
(e) (1) The Legislature declares that each electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, mobile telephony service provider, electric service provider, and telephone corporation that is not required to submit a plan pursuant to subdivision (a) is encouraged to voluntarily adopt a plan for increasing women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprise procurement in all categories.
(2) The Legislature declares that each cable television corporation, direct broadcast satellite provider, exempt wholesale generator contracting to sell electricity to a retail seller, distributed energy resource contractor, and energy storage system company is encouraged to voluntarily adopt a plan for increasing women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprise procurement and to voluntarily report activity in this area to the Legislature on an annual basis.
(f) The commission shall require each electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, wireless telecommunications service provider, electric service provider, and telephone corporation with gross annual California revenues exceeding fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000), but not more than twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), to annually submit data in a simplified form to the commission on its procurement from women, minority, disabled veteran, and LGBT business enterprises in all categories, including, but not limited to, renewable energy, energy storage system, wireless telecommunications, broadband, smart grid, vegetation management, and rail projects.
(g) (1) As part of each annual report or data submission required pursuant to subdivision (d) or (f), the electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, wireless telecommunications service provider, electric service provider, or telephone corporation shall provide all of the following information in the aggregate:
(A) The number of new contractors and subcontractors certified pursuant to General Order 156 with which it contracted.
(B) The total dollar amounts expended with in-state contractors certified under General Order 156.
(C) The total dollar amounts expended with in-state subcontractors certified under General Order 156.
(D) The percentage of the total workforce used by contractors and subcontractors that reside in California.
(E) Data regarding the diversity of contractor or subcontractor workforces, to the extent that the data is provided voluntarily by the employees of the contractor or subcontractor.
(2) An electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, wireless telecommunications service provider, electric service provider, or telephone corporation may use data provided to the commission pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 8284 to satisfy the requirements of paragraph (1).
(h) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) “Distributed energy resource contractor” means any corporation or other business entity that employs anyone licensed by the Contractors State License Board to perform installations of distributed energy resources, as defined in Section 8370.
(2) “Energy storage system company” means any person or corporation operating a centralized or distributed energy storage system, as defined in Section 2835, that furnishes electricity to an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, community choice aggregator, or electric service provider within California, or that supplies electricity to a retail end-use customer of an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, community choice aggregator, or electric service provider within California.
(3) “Other business entity” has the same meaning as defined in Section 174.5 of the Corporations Code.
(Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 784, Sec. 4. (SB 1177) Effective January 1, 2025.)