Operational Excellence
Supply Chain
Our supply chain activities involve more than just the procurement of goods and services — they are also a means to support our commitments to safety, environmental stewardship, social responsibility, cost savings, and operational excellence.
We partner with our utility industry colleagues, our customers, and vendor base to develop and promote the implementation of sustainable supply chain best practices. These benchmarks enable us to save money and achieve reductions in our carbon footprint and our use of water and energy, while also reducing the amount of waste generated. In 2018, we diverted more than 13 thousand pounds of waste from landfills. We also sold items such as scrap cable, meters, transformers, and paper to recyclers to recover more than $10 million.
Last year, we purchased more than $5 million of environmentally-friendly products (such as hybrid vehicles, low-carbon fuels, recycled paper, toner, and carpet) and awarded more than $1 million in contracts to support infrastructure for electric vehicle charging stations. In support of our energy efficiency goals, we issued 12 contracts worth more than $18 million for demand management and battery storage projects.
We consider our vendors to be essential partners in our operations and we work to ensure that they meet our standards for safety and social responsibility. Construction vendors involved in excavation work are required to enroll in the Gold Shovel Safety Certification Program. All vendors who do business with Con Edison are required to abide by our Vendor Code of Business Conduct, which outlines our standards for ethics, human rights, labor laws, environmental management, and supplier diversity.
We also engage with our vendors through our active participation in the Electric Utility Industry Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance. The utilities within this organization represent supply chain departments with aggregate annual spending of more than $50 billion. Con Edison recently took on a leadership role within this organization. By collaborating with supply chain leaders and suppliers, Con Edison is able to spark innovation and increase the adoption of sustainable supply chain best practices throughout our industry.
Con Edison recognizes the impact small businesses have on job creation in our service territory. That’s why we are committed to supporting them through our Supplier Diversity program. In 2018, we purchased $345 million in goods and services from women- and minority-owned companies. Including expenditures from non-diverse small businesses, our outreach efforts yielded more than $620 million in annual spend.
In recognition of the positive contributions made by our Supplier Diversity & Sustainability program within the communities we serve, our company won awards from the New York/New Jersey Chapter of the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Supplier Diversity Development Council.