The CPUC’s Business and Community Outreach program assists California communities, local governments, and businesses with making smart energy, telecommunications, and procurement choices. The program also helps to raise awareness of the CPUC’s efforts to ensure utility service at reasonable rates, protect against fraud, and promote the health of California’s economy.
- Outreach efforts focus on educating and promoting CPUC programs and initiatives that can help reduce utility bills as well as policies that will help bring reliable utility services at reasonable rates.
- The Supplier Diversity program promotes and monitors supplier diversity in procurement by utilities and oversees a certification clearinghouse. The CPUC encourages investor-owned utilities to purchase 21.5 percent of its goods and services from diverse firms (15 percent minority owned firms, 5 percent women owned firms and 1.5 percent disabled veteran owned firms).
- The Small Business program focuses on two areas 1) Promoting procurement opportunities with the state and utilities; 2) Providing education and outreach necessary to raise internal and external awareness of various regulatory and legislative policy issues impacting the small business community. The CPUC also assists small businesses with utility related complaints and issues and informs small businesses of CPUC contracting opportunities.
If you have any questions about Business and Community Outreach's Programs on Outreach, Supplier Diversity, and Small Business, please contact Stephanie Green, Program and Project Supervisor, at 415.703.5245 or sjg@cpuc.ca.gov.
Visit the California Small Business/DVBE Advocate website
Read Fact Sheets on the CPUC and its Programs and Initiatives
To contact the CPUC’s Business and Community Outreach team, please call or e-mail:
Small Business
- Bezawit Dilgassa, Small Business Advocate/Liaison, 415.703.5269, bez@cpuc.ca.gov
- Jennifer Caron, Small Business Regulatory Analyst, 415.355.5499, jc8@cpuc.ca.gov
Supplier Diversity
- Douglas Phason, Utility Supplier Diversity Officer, 415.703.2280, ph1@cpuc.ca.gov
- Drisha Melton, Outreach/Diversity Officer, 213.620.2688, ddm@cpuc.ca.gov
- Marshall Kennedy, Utility Supplier Diversity Regulatory Analyst, 415.703.1432, mke@cpuc.ca.gov
Outreach
Northern California (all territory above Bakersfield):
Southern California (all territory below Bakersfield):