Gender pay gap widens across utility sector

The gender pay gap has seen a year-on-year increase across the utilities sector, with only electricity distribution network operators (DNOs) reporting a collective decline.

According to the latest statistics, which show a snapshot of the sector as of 5 April 2022, the average gender pay gap within water companies, distribution network operators (DNOs) and gas networks are all above the median gender pay gap national average of 9.4%.

DNOs were the only sector which saw a year-on-year decrease in the gender pay gap overall, decreasing 1.12pps to 16.53%. This however is still well above the national average.

Northern Powergrid reported the biggest gap, with men employed by the company paid on average 31.4% more than women, up from 29.3% a year previously.

Gas network operators saw the biggest year-on-year increase, with the median gender pay gap among these companies increasing by 3.42 percentage points (pps).

In 2021 the average gender pay gap among gas operators was 12.38%, but this had increased to 15.8% a year later.

At 19.4%, Cadent currently has the largest gender pay gap of any gas company but this is a decrease from the 24.3% it posted in 2021.

In energy retail the gap widened by 1.35pps to 7.47% which is below the national average still.

Eon UK has seen its gender pay gap increase from 22.9% in 2021 to just over 25% a year later, while Scottish Power Energy Retail posted a slight decrease from 15.6% to 15.2%.

However, both EDF Energy Customers and Octopus Energy posted a negative gender pay gap figure, which means female employees were paid more than their male counterparts on average.

In 2021 women working at EDF earned £1.07 for every £1 that men earned when comparing median hourly pay. Their median hourly pay was 6.8% higher than men’s. This decreased to 4.6% in 2022, meaning women earned £1.05 for every £1 that men earned.

Octopus meanwhile reported its female employees earning £1.05 for every £1 that men earned in 2021, with median hourly pay 5.1% higher than men’s. In 2022 this figure increased further still, with women earning £1.06 for every £1 that men earned, with median hourly pay 6.2% higher than men’s.

Commenting on the latest figures Octopus Energy chief Greg Jackson said: “We’ve worked hard to create a workplace in which everyone has the opportunity to thrive – no matter their role, experience, or background.

“A big part of that is ensuring that women and men have equal access to roles and compensation – highly paid women outnumber highly paid men in our core business, and we’ll continue to obsess about diversity in all parts of the Octopus group.”

For water companies, the average median pay gap is above the national average at 12.6%.

Southern Water leads the sector with its gap now -3.3%, down from 9% in 2018. Wessex, Yorkshire and Welsh Water also each reported median pay gaps below 6%, while Affinity had the highest pay gap for 2022 at 30.8%, up 2pp since the previous year.

Water regulator Ofwat reported its pay gap for the first time in 2021 when the median difference was 6.7%. For 2022 the gap rose to 13.1%.

Meanwhile the Environment Agency reported no difference in the median pay for male and female employees.

Speaking to Utility Week recently, one industry expert expressed her concerns about the retention rates of women in the energy sector.

Louise Parry, director of people and organisational development at Energy and Utility Skills, cited the latest ONS figures which show that while there was an improvement in the numbers of women in the power sector overall between 2017 and 2021, there was a decline from 2020 to 2021.

“So we can see women are joining the sector. But what we can also see is that they’re leaving pretty much at the same levels as they’re joining. So the diversity of the workforce, as a result, isn’t going to change,” she said.

You can read the full analysis on this issue here.