The National Utilities Diversity Council Celebrated Its 10th Annual Conference "Brainstorm at the Beach: The NUDC Summit on Supplier, Workforce, and Governance Diversity"

LOS ANGELES, June 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Utilities Diversity Council (NUDC) convened its 10^th annual conference, the Brainstorm at the Beach: The NUDC Summit on Supplier, Workforce, and Governance Diversity on Thursday, May 25, 2023   Hosted by SoCalGas at its Energy Resource Center and [H2] Innovation Experience, the conference brought together 100 leaders from across the utilities industry – regulators, industry executives, suppliers, academics, and association leaders to have meaningful discussions that manifest into actionable outcomes to promote diversity and equity across the industry.

Sharing insights as keynote speakers were The Honorable Michael Caron, Commissioner, Connecticut Public Utility Regulatory Authority and President, National Utilities Diversity Council; and Scott Drury, Chief Executive Officer of SoCalGas.  The gathering was welcomed for its first conference in California by The Honorable Darcie Houck, of the California Public Utilities Commission.

Scott Drury, CEO of SoCalGas, said about the Brainstorm, "When we think about the magnitude of investment required to modernize the American energy grid, we're going to need an increasingly deep and diverse bench of suppliers. NUDC's focus here in Los Angeles has been to position diverse suppliers for success in pursuing the economic opportunity that comes with this investment."

The distinguished attendees worked together in roundtable sessions to "solutioneer" and continue to make advancements in multiple areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging such as building diversity in leadership, creating an inclusive culture, expanding supplier diversity and ensuring customer equity and affordability.  

"It is so exciting to be able to reach this milestone in NUDC's history," said Laurie Dowling, Executive Director of the National Utilities Diversity Council. "This annual summit provides a unique forum and opportunity for utilities, suppliers and regulators to gather together to take a deep dive at making advances in some of the most timely issues facing our industry.  We are tremendously grateful to SoCalGas for allowing us to use the Energy Resource Center, and to our conference sponsors for helping make the event possible."

"There is a palpable energy in the room during NUDC's conferences, a sense of shared purpose and a strong knowledge that together we can map out positive change for the utilities and communications industries," said NUDC Co-Chair, Harry Sideris.

About NUDC
The National Utilities Diversity Council educates, develops best practices and guides efforts that will promote diversity in the utilities and communications industries in the areas of governance, employment, procurement, language access/customer service, and philanthropy.

The NUDC is governed by a 19-member Board of Directors, chaired by Harry Sideris, Executive Vice President, Customer Experiences and Services, Duke Energy and The Honorable Rebecca Valcq, Chair, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin.  It is made up of corporate leaders, regulators and regulatory staff members, suppliers, and non-profit professionals committed to encouraging diversity in utilities, telecommunications, and cable industries. Since its inception, NUDC has provided resources through webinars, toolkits, conferences and research.  The majority of NUDC's programs are made available at no charge to the user.

For more information, please contact Laurie Dowling – [email protected] 323-982-7223

SOURCE National Utilities Diversity Council