What Is The Supplier Clearinghouse?

In May 1988, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued General Order 156 (GO 156). Under GO 156, the CPUC required all investor-owned electric, gas, water and telecommunication utility companies with gross annual revenues in excess of $25 million and their regulated subsidiaries and affiliates, to develop and implement programs to increase the utilization of WMBES.  Procurement goals of 5% for women and 15% for minorities were initially established, and later expanded to include a goal of 1.5% for service-disabled veterans.

Certification of eligible suppliers was designed to encourage, recruit, and utilize WMBEs by participating utilities. 

The Clearinghouse is a Commission-supervised entity whose primary purpose is to audit and verify the status of WMBEs, and to establish and maintain a database of WMDVBEs that is accessible to the CPUC and to participating utilities.  The Clearinghouse audit and verification program precludes the need for individual utilities to audit and verify WMBEs with whom they do business.

There are four verification processes:

1) The Verification Application Package Process (VAP) for new first-time applicants who have never been certified by the Clearinghouse and do not have ‘Comparable Agency Verification’ (CAV) certification by the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), or the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC);

2) The Re-verification Application Package Process, for applicants who are renewing Clearinghouse certification;

3) The Comparable Agency Verification (CAV) process, wherein a firm that is certified by either the NMSDC or WBENC may obtain certification from the Clearinghouse, upon Clearinghouse approval. (See FAQs for additional information about the CAV process.)

4) The Fast Track Process (FTP), which is exclusive to micro-businesses whose average annual gross income is $2,750,000 or less over the previous three (3) years, or, is a manufacturing company with 25 employees or less, and is a woman/minority owned California-based firm.

The Verification Process is at no cost to applicants, and is valid for three years if obtained directly from the Clearinghouse.  Certification through CAV is valid for the same period as the comparable agency’s certification expiration date. 

The Clearinghouse is available to assist interested applicants and may be reached at info@thesupplierclearinghouse.com or Toll Free at (800) 359-7998.