The Energy & Utility Skills’ Inclusion Measurement Framework reported that in 2022, women only made up 26% of the industry’s workforce, whilst ethnic minorities made up just 7.5%, and there was still “significant underrepresentation” of disabled people working across utilities. This could partly be explained by an aging workforce with niche skillsets that can’t be easily replaced but it highlights the widely recognised imperative to move faster on diversity and inclusion measures.
Today at the annual Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Conference, which is hosted by ENA, Energy UK, Energy Institute and Ofgem, we will hear updated research that shows the progress we still need to make in order to build a workforce that challenges group think, brings diversity of thought, ideas and experience, and provides new equitable solutions for a clean, fair and affordable energy system.
ENA has been clear that energy networks need to leverage opportunities in the decarbonisation journey – such as working together across our networks to drive DEI sector-wide – to collectively enable the changes networks are all individually working towards. An ENA DEI SteerCo has been initiated with a number of network companies acting on behalf of the sector.
To support the sector and our partners in making the transition we have prepared a new report with energy network specific research and a selection of case studies, that highlight how people are making a real difference in their approach to diversity, equality and inclusion today.
About us
Energy Networks Association (ENA) is the industry body representing the energy networks. Our members include every major electricity network operator in the UK. The electricity networks are at the heart of the energy transition. They directly employ more than 26,000 people in the UK, including 1,500 apprentices. They are spending and investing £33bn in our electricity grids over the coming years, to ensure safe, reliable and secure energy supplies for the millions of homes and businesses reliant on power every day.
Press contacts
You can contact ENA's press office by emailing press@energynetworks.org. For urgent or out-of-hours enquiries from journalists, please call 0204 599 7691.