Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | APRIL 2022 | 19 Opinion One other reason for Sustainability First wanting the focus to be on the totality of scope 1 and 2 emissions is our wider concern that losses are being neglected in the ED2 process. They currently account for 6-7% of electric- ity generated (equivalent to around £15 per annum for the typical customer) and around 90% of the DNOs' carbon footprint – so are important in terms of both costs and carbon. However, Ofgem has bought the companies' argu- ments that losses will increase over time as loads increase and that this is very largely outside the DNOs' control. Our argument is that the trend towards rising losses is a reason why this area needs more focus, not less. And the Losses Strategies buried deep in the appen- dices to the business plans reveal that there is actually a signi‹ cant amount that the companies could do to better understand and manage losses. What concerns us is that without any ‹ nancial incentive to focus on this issue, the companies will not give it the attention it needs as they move into ED2. The other argument that gets made is that losses will cease to contribute to the companies' carbon footprint as the grid decarbonises. This wouldn't be seen as a reason to reject other energy e' ciency measures so it should not be one here. Losses are a whole systems issue and need to be viewed as such in terms of the implications for the levels of system capacity needed to meet net zero. Another issue is SF6 where again we have argued that stronger incentives are needed to ensure DNOs deal e" ectively over the long term with the 200,000 bits of equipment on their networks containing small amounts of this highly potent, long lived greenhouse gas. Unenviable task for Ofgem In our response we were unable to produce any sort of relative ranking of the companies – not least because for most of the areas we have focused on there is still a huge problem with a lack of comparable data. As ever I don't envy Ofgem the task of wading through all this material and trying to benchmark the plans – but hopefully the Challenge Group's useful report and Sustainability First's in-depth review of the EAPs will help them. Clearly this is a challenging period for Ofgem and the focus will inevitably be on keeping bill impacts to a minimum. But there needs to be a focus too on what is being delivered. All the plans showed very strong sup- port from customers and stakeholders for action in sup- port of net zero and the environment. The recent storms have only reinforced the importance of resilience and climate adaptation. In moving to draš determinations, Ofgem must retain its focus on delivering the long-run outputs that consumers want and need, and must not just look at the near-term cost, even if that is, in many ways, the easy bit. Maxine spent 15 years at Ofgem, latterly taking on responsibility for all aspects of the regulation of distribu- tion networks. Since leaving Ofgem she has been working as an independent consultant for a mix of regulated company and consumer/community group clients and is an associate at Sustainability First. Comment Adele Barker Group chief people offi cer, Pennon Group Water "Creating a representative workforce is integral to delivering innovative solutions" "Creating a representative workforce is integral to W omen are under- represented in traditionally male- dominated industries such as ours and we need to look at our processes and working environ- ment to ensure we are attracting and retaining the best talent. Just 20% of all employees in the water sector are female, and with this in mind, I believe we have a responsibility to remove the barriers women face to entering the industry. I believe creating a representative work- force is integral to better serving our customers and our region. At Pennon, we have made some great progress in this area. The proportion of female employees has increased for the third year running – now approximately 30% of our workforce. On top of this, 45% of the senior leadership team at Pen- non are female, compared to an industry average of 23%. We are also now one of only four com- panies in the FTSE 350 to have both a female CEO and chair. Earlier this year, we were recognised as a global leader in gender equality, in a report published by Bloomberg. For the third year running, Pennon has been named in their Gender- Equality Index (GEI) – a report that recognises the performance of public companies commit- ted to disclosing their e" orts to support gender equality through policy development, representa- tion and transparency. The report showed we per- formed particularly strongly on gender pay (82%) and disclosure (96%). While these accolades are great, what drives us is the belief that whoever you are, whatever your background, gen- der, ethnicity or sexuality you should be able to thrive. While female representation at Pennon is above the industry average, we know we still have a way to go. To promote gender equal- ity in our workplace we have updated our approach to monitoring diversity in our job applications. The wording and language used in jobs adverts can be par- ticularly important for promot- ing opportunities fairly. Pennon now uses soš ware that checks all our job adverts for words typically associated with male characteristics which could potentially deter women from applying for the role. We also undertake lived experience group sessions to understand what it is like to work at Pennon for employees from minority groups. We are passionate about encouraging more young women into science-based careers. We have been working with local schools and colleges to encourage young people from all backgrounds to consider a career path in STEM subjects. A number of our female employees are also STEM ambassadors, which is a fan- tastic vehicle to demonstrate to children and young people the opportunities which STEM subjects can lead to. It is through these mecha- nisms that we will address the gender balance in our business and will continue to pursue new strategies to level the playing ‹ eld when it comes to recruitment, employment and retention. By actively promoting a diverse range of talent in our business we will be best placed to solve complex problems, deliver innovative solutions and earn the respect of our custom- ers and colleagues.

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