Dive Summary:

• Spending on contracts fell 11% in 2012 in a Maryland program encouraging the use of utilities suppliers owned by minorities, women or disabled veterans, the state Public Service Commission reported Tuesday on the 20th anniversary of the state's supplier diversity efforts.
• Though total contracting rose 2.7% last year, dollars spent on companies owned by minorities, women or service-disabled veterans fell to $345 million last year from $388 million the previous year, falling far short of the 25% of utility spending target set by the Public Service Commission.
• According to Pepco's Rhonda Mencarini, some of the industry's go-to diverse companies were acquired by companies not owned by minorities, women or disabled veterans, though the utilities are said to be working together to find more diverse contractors.

From the article:

... "It was shocking and deflating to learn that as a group ... the utilities underperformed from 2011 to 2012," said Wayne R. Frazier Sr., president of the Maryland Washington Minority Companies Association. "Utilities, I beg you, please prove that ... 2012 was just a one-year setback and not the new norm." ...