As a leading driver of equitable economic growth, company again surpasses its goal for the inclusion of diverse suppliers and for expanding relationships with them

BALTIMORE - BGE purchased $497 million in goods and services from diversity-certified suppliers in 2022, representing 42 percent of total companywide purchases and bringing BGE's total diverse supplier spend to more than $1.5 billion over the last three years. Maryland businesses accounted for nearly $174 million of BGE's total diverse spend; Baltimore City businesses accounted for $26 million.

"Diverse companies are a vital source of economic growth and opportunity for communities in our region, and we have a responsibility to grow their key role in our work to enhance the reliability, safety, and resiliency of the electric and natural gas systems serving our customers," said Carim Khouzami, BGE's president and CEO. "An equitable approach to helping other businesses prosper continues to benefit BGE and our customers-and it's the right thing to do. We're looking forward to diversity-certified businesses making more exciting contributions to our proposed investments of more than $2 billion annually over the next several years to strengthen Maryland's foundation for a net zero-emission future."

In 2009, BGE voluntarily committed to the Maryland Public Service Commission to award 25 percent of company spending to diverse suppliers. To help meet this goal, BGE created the Focus Forward supplier diversity academy (now Exelon Empowerment Academies) to educate and coach diversity-certified businesses on how to compete for contract opportunities and provide those business with direct access to BGE leaders who are committed to growing diverse partnerships.

BGE also established a diverse business empowerment process dedicated to developing relationships with Maryland's minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, and LGBT-owned business communities, ensuring BGE has access to a talented diverse supplier base that reflects its customer base.

BGE's Diverse Business Empowerment (DBE) team works closely with the company's Supply organization to explore opportunities to grow diverse supplier spend. This effort includes:

*Actively sharing bid opportunities with DBE, which in turn researches and pre-qualifies diversity certified suppliers to participate in sourcing events;

*Forecasting potential sourcing opportunities with diverse suppliers to assist with goal setting, ensuring supplier diversity goals are achievable;

*Ensuring that DBE information is communicated to internal clients and to external, non-diverse suppliers for utilization of diversity certified subcontractors;

*Regular reporting of progress to BGE senior leadership; and

*Reviewing current contracts to ensure maximized diverse supplier opportunities.

As part of BGE's commitment to supplier diversity, the company encourages prime contractors to increase their own diverse supplier spend. Prime contractors working on BGE's energy delivery systems spent $181 million with diverse subcontractors last year.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion is a core foundational value for BGE and its parent company, Exelon, both in the workplace and in its engagement with customers and the communities it serves.

Exelon invites prospective suppliers to register and create a profile that includes pertinent information, including their diversity status. To register and be considered as a supplier, companies can access the SMART by GEP tool via exeloncorp.com/suppliers.

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About BGE

BGE is Maryland's largest natural gas and electric utility, providing safe and reliable energy delivery to more than 1.3 million electric customers and 700,000 natural gas customers in central Maryland. The company was founded in 1816 as the nation's first gas utility and remains headquartered in Baltimore City to this day. BGE is a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (Nasdaq: EXC), the nation's leading energy utility company. Engage with the latest BGE stories on bgenow.com and connect with BGE on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

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