Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
PGE provides an essential product. Since our earliest days, our goal has been to contribute to the people, cultures and communities we serve – all while continuing to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy.
PGE provides an essential product. Since our earliest days, our goal has been to contribute to the people, cultures and communities we serve – all while continuing to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy.
From our employees to our customers, we have the responsibility to bring everyone forward into the clean energy future. This means reflecting, integrating, and supporting the diverse voices represented in the communities we serve. As one of the region’s largest and most trusted companies, we can and must join with our communities to help drive real and lasting change.
Our DEI Office, established in 2018, seeks to move DEI work from a mandate to a movement. In 2020, through a series of racial equity listening sessions designed to give PGE employees the opportunity to share ideas, we identified five commitment areas that will drive us forward in our journey toward racial equity. These five areas encompass both our internal diversity and inclusion efforts, as well as our external partner engagement to create a more equitable energy system.
Learn more about our progress in these five commitments areas:
Recruitment & Development
In 2020, we added criteria for racial and gender diversity to our interview panels. Starting in the third quarter of 2020, 100% of our interview processes had at least one diverse representative.
We recently launched two development programs to foster career advancement for women and BIPOC employees.
We’ve revised the hiring process for our pre-apprentice lineman program to attract and train a diverse pool of applicants.
We perform annual pay equity studies to ensure pay decisions are applied fairly and consistently throughout our workforce.
Leadership Diversity
Each time a leadership role is available, we cast a wide net to encourage diverse representation.
In 2020, we defined DEI incentive metrics for officers and other company leaders, tying compensation to progress on DEI goals.
In the past two years, about 50% of officer promotions and director selections were diverse.
Awareness, Education & Training
We provide racial equity education for our board, leadership and employees. Examples include sessions on unconscious bias, inclusive leadership and applying an equity lens.
We require training for managers to help reveal hidden biases that can affect hiring, promotions and evaluations.
Our eight identity-based Business Resource Groups regularly host events, open to all employees, that promote cultural awareness and employee development.
Partners & Suppliers
We’ll increase our supplier diversity spending to 15% of our total supplier spending by 2022 (with a goal to reach 10% by the end of 2021).
As of year-end 2020, our supplier diversity program accounts for 11.8% ($100 million+) of our total supplier spending.
Customer & Community Engagement
Together, PGE, our employees, our retirees and the PGE Foundation donated $5.6 million to community nonprofits in 2020. 50% of PGE Foundation grant dollars supported communities of color.
Our flagship community engagement program, PGE Project Zero, engages underserved youth in creating greener and more equitable communities through climate education, environmental stewardship projects and green job development.
Our Drive Change Fund awarded local community organizations $2.25 million to expand access to electric transportation. We also provided funding to electrify buses in five school districts.
In 2020, we launched the Language Line to help take customer calls in more than 200 languages.
We have embedded community outreach managers into PGE Smart Grid Test Bed neighborhoods to help underrepresented populations use demand response programs to their benefit.
Our 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Report 
provides additional details about our DEI commitments and progress, including detailed workforce demographic data.
PGE Equity StatementÂ
For more than 130 years, we have been powering our community, and we will continue bringing innovative solutions to ensure a bright energy future for Oregonians. We know, however, that disparities exist in delivering electric service that are shaped by regulatory policy, legislative policy and institutional procedures. We cannot ignore the historical barriers and biases affecting low-income households, communities of color, people with disabilities and other historically underserved communities. Nor can we ignore the societal inequities that make it harder for these groups to access renewable energy programs, technologies and jobs. Addressing disparities is now part of our job at PGE, and our commitment to supporting the success of communities we serve runs deep. That’s why we invite the voices of people and communities that experience these disadvantages to help shape PGE’s clean energy future. For our part, we’re committed to racial equity in all aspects of our operations, including customers, employees, the communities we serve and the people with which we do business. Understanding this, we actively pledge to:
Apply an equity lens to all aspects of our business, collaborate with our communities and prioritize their voices to inform our decisions.
Partner with others to break through economic, cultural and language barriers. We want to ensure all customers – regardless of income, background, ethnicity or physical location – can benefit from the evolving way energy is generated and delivered while keeping rates low.
Enforce equitable policies for hiring, promoting, developing and compensating employees. We commit to being a green employer of choice, to building an employee and leadership base that mirrors the communities we serve and to cultivating a workplace culture that embraces equity.
Develop ways to measure, track and share our progress on these commitments to ensure accountability.
Revisit and update these commitments annually as part of our ongoing journey to an equitable energy future.
We take pride in our policies – and our people
At Portland General, a diverse workforce is important to us. Learn more about how we support our employees and search for jobs on our Careers page.
More information on our policies that support PGE’s commitment to human rights for our employees, communities, suppliers and partners can be found in our Human Rights Statement .
Recognized for gender equity efforts
The Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index tracks the financial performance of public companies committed to disclosing their efforts to support gender equality through policy development, representation and transparency. We’re proud to be one of the 484 companies included in the 2023 index – our fifth year in a row.
Employee Groups
These groups mentor and support members’ professional goals and all employees are welcome to participate. They host events that promote cultural awareness and employee development. Our current list of groups includes:
Advocates & Champions for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
African American
Asian Pacific Island Cultures
ABLE Disabilities BRG
LGBT+
Latin American
Native American
Military Veterans
Women’s