Today, ahead of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in Energy Conference, the UK energy industry unveils the results of two sector-wide EDI surveys: the Health Index and Inclusion Measurement Framework.
The TIDE Health Index, kindly supported by Cognician, is an initiative that enables organisations in the energy industry to anonymously benchmark their EDI maturity, identify areas needing support, and track progress year-on-year. The aggregate results also show where the sector as a whole needs further support. Measuring the policies and processes in place tracks the “inputs” of industry EDI work.
The Inclusion Measurement Framework, run by Energy & Utility Skills and supported by The Equal Group, looks instead at the diversity characteristics of the energy workforce, so tracks the make-up of the sector, and over time sees if EDI activities are making a difference.
Results for both can be found here: https://www.energyedihub.uk/health-index/
This year’s Health Index results show encouraging signs of progress as more organisations reported as progressive or leading practice in the ‘strategy’, people’ and ‘internal’ categories. Within this, notable improvement was found in organisations having strategic EDI qualitative and quantitative goals in place, and there was a significant rise in diversity forums and employee resource groups, supporting inclusive workplace cultures.
However, the results also underline a continued need for stronger leadership engagement, with many organisations stating they do not have a person nominated for the responsibility of EDI strategy and programmes, and that EDI is not an essential leadership competency.
Today’s conference, sponsored by Murray McIntosh, will also discuss the energy industry results of Energy & Utility Skills’ 2024 Inclusion Measurement Framework.
This year’s results show that while gender diversity continues to show incremental gains, women still make up only 27% of the participating energy organisations’ workforce – whilst this is fairly aligned with the wider utilities sector (31%), this is significantly lower than the UK average of 48%.
Disappointingly, the picture doesn’t change much when looking at data on ethnicity, sexuality or disability representation; whilst the energy sector has a similar profile to the wider utilities sector, all remain well below national benchmarks, despite slight year-on-year improvements.
Declaration rates rose but remain low, with nearly 60% of respondents still not disclosing LGBTQ+ preferences.
Louise Parry, Director of People and Organisation at Energy & Utility Skills, said:
“With over 300,000 new people needed to join the industry by 2030, we must attract and retain diverse talent to meet the skills and workforce needed to deliver the Government’s clean energy ambitions. This necessitates reviewing attraction and recruitment processes to understand and address why diverse talent is leaving, and focusing development efforts into growing diverse leadership pipelines.”
Juliette Sanders, Chief Communications Officer at Energy UK, said on behalf of TIDE:
“The results show that energy industry demographics align closely with the wider utilities sector, but fall far behind the national average. We know diverse teams perform better, and with the sheer number of people needed to work in our sector, we don’t have a choice but to improve how we recruit and retain people from all backgrounds.
“TIDE’s activities over the next 12 months will focus on the areas highlighted for improvement, understanding where organisations have implemented activities which show tangible results, and sharing good practice with those who need support.
“Robust data is important and so we need to keep increasing the number of participating organisations in these surveys, and also improve disclosure rates. The good news is we have seen an upward trend in organisations attempting to measure EDI data, we now just need to make sure employees feel able to disclose personal details. Only then can the sector achieve the robust, transparent data needed to drive genuine progress.”
Both Energy & Utility Skills and TIDE will be discussing the findings at the EDI in Energy Conference today, hosted by Energy UK, ENA, Energy Institute and Ofgem.
At this flagship, one day event attendees will also hear from CEOs and leaders across the sector and have the opportunity to connect with EDI networks – including POWERful Women, Energyz Black, Pride in Energy, IntoNetZero and Womens Utilities Network.
The event is fully booked in person, but online tickets are available free of charge here: https://www.energy-uk.org.uk/event/equity-diversity-inclusion-edi-in-energy-conference-2025/.
Notes to editors
About TIDE
TIDE (Tackling Inclusion and Diversity in Energy) was launched in 2022 as a group of volunteers working across industry to provide tools and resources to improve Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in energy. It is supported by Energy UK, Energy Networks Association, the Energy Institute and Ofgem. Its aim is to combine cross-sector EDI insights and evidence, building on experience and expertise to share good practice and support industry-wide changes. Find out more: www.energyedihub.uk.
About Energy UK
Energy UK is the trade association for the energy industry, representing companies investing billions of pounds to secure our country’s current and future energy needs.
From growing start-ups to major electricity generators, grid and infrastructure developers and energy suppliers, our members are driving change across power, heat, transport and flexibility.
We provide a collective voice for the sector working with governments, regulators, charities and other organisations to provide crucial insight that shapes policy, offers solutions and promotes best practice.
Our broad view across the whole system supports evidence-based positions which are not tied to particular technologies, and are focused on delivering strategic benefits for people, businesses and the economy.
We champion initiatives such as our Vulnerability Commitment, which pushes suppliers to go beyond regulation to support customers with additional needs, and TIDE, the industry’s drive for greater inclusion and diversity. Through our Young Energy Professionals Forum, we support the development of future leaders.
We are equally committed to our team and are proud to be recognised as a ‘Gold’ Investors in People employer.
About Energy & Utility Skills
Energy & Utility Skills is an industry body at the forefront of bringing leaders together to identify and address the skills challenges our sector faces. It provides membership, assurance, and skills solutions to help employers attract, develop, and retain a sustainable skilled workforce. It collaborates with employers to support their workforce needs and sector-wide workforce mobility.
Find out more: https://www.euskills.co.uk/.