SAN FRANCISCO -- (Business Wire)

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) was named 2016 Corporation of the Year by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). The honor, given at the NGLCC’s 2016 National Dinner Awards in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 18, recognizes PG&E for their outstanding support and dedication to ensuring fairness and equal opportunity for LGBT suppliers, customers and employees.

“PG&E has been a leader in diversity and inclusion for decades. We recognize that it’s the strength of our diversity that makes our company and communities successful. We’re proud to be the first California utility to include LGBT in its supplier diversity program. Our commitment to diversity within the communities we serve is the right way to do business and how we’ll continue to work together in building a better California,” said PG&E Vice President, Federal Affairs and Policy and Chief Sustainability Officer Melissa Lavinson, who accepted the award on behalf of PG&E.

PG&E’s support of the LGBT community has been recognized by leading national diversity and human rights groups:

• Human Rights Campaign: For the last 13 years, PG&E has been named as one of the best places to work by the HRC, the largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for LGBT Americans. Over this period, PG&E has received a perfect 100 percent rating on the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index for their strong commitment to embrace diversity and inclusion.
• DiversityInc: For eight consecutive years, PG&E has been named as one of the top utilities in the United States for diversity which covers supplier diversity, hiring, retaining and promoting LGBT, women, minorities, people with disabilities and veterans.

PG&E has also been a corporate leader in championing LGBT rights for businesses, employees and the community:

• In 2015, PG&E played hosts to the first stop on a nationwide LGBT business builder event, which was co-sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration and the NGLCC. PG&E has also worked to help LGBT businesses grow by partnering with the Golden Gate Business Association to hold training, matchmaking and networking events.
• In 2012, PG&E was the first utility company to pursue LGBT businesses for its supply chain. The company also supported the passage of California Assembly Bill 1678 in 2015, which requires California public utilities to extend to LGBT enterprises the same business opportunities granted to women-, minority- and disabled veteran-owned companies.
• In 2016, PG&E’s PrideNetwork, one of the first LGBT employee resource groups in the nation, celebrated its 30^th anniversary.
• In 2015, PG&E contributed $250,000 to the San Francisco-based National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) as part of its long-standing commitment to equality in the workplace and the communities it serves.
• In 2008, PG&E was the first major company in California to support the “No on 8” (ballot proposition which banned same-sex marriages) campaign.
• In 1986, PG&E was the first corporate sponsor of the San Francisco Pride Celebration and Parade and had the first corporate contingent in the parade in 1988.

About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation’s cleanest energy to nearly 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit www.pge.com/ and pge.com/news.

http://www.pgecurrents.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pacificgasandelectric
https://twitter.com/pge4me
http://www.linkedin.com/company/pacific-gas-and-electric-company
http://www.youtube.com/user/pgevideo

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161205005262/en/

Contacts:

Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Tony Khing, 415-973-5930

Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company