ComEd spent $893 million with businesses owned by women, people of color and veterans in 2021, or 42 percent of its total supply chain spend, bringing its diverse supplier spend since 2012 to $6.4 billion. Maintaining its focus on investing locally, ComEd spent $641 million, or more than 71 percent of its total diverse spend last year, with Illinois-based suppliers, as detailed in the company’s annual report to the Illinois Commerce Commission, which regulates the state’s public utilities.  ComEd partners with 662 diversity-certified suppliers, including 153 added last year, and they work throughout the company in utility construction, engineering, and materials, among others. A growing sector for diverse suppliers is energy efficiency, which is expected to accelerate as a result of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, which increases funding for expanded offerings with an emphasis on income eligible customers. The report also highlights ComEd’s work in the growing data center sector where it’s creating opportunities for diversity-certified suppliers, such as Environmental Design International, a woman-owned company specializing in environmental consulting and civil engineering; McKissack & McKissack, the oldest minority-owned architecture and construction company in the United States; and Meade Electric, a leader in diversity advocacy with hundreds of active diversity-certified supplier relationships.