Utility Week

UTILITY WEEK | 20TH - 26TH APRIL 2018 | 21 Operations & Assets Utilita Energy, and 0 per cent (median) and 3.1 per cent (mean) for Utilita Telesales. Energy networks Many energy networks also reported sub- stantial gender pay gaps, although none as large as in retail and services. The company with the biggest gaps by a clear margin was Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks' transmission busi- ness, Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission. It reported figures of 36.1 per cent (median) and 33.4 per cent (mean). The numbers overall for the parent com- pany, SSE, were much lower at 19.3 per cent (median) and 22 per cent (mean) and the company says it has been working proac- tively to address the imbalance, for exam- ple by changing its recruitment methods to encourage more female applicants, and pro- moting flexible working hours. SSE director of human resources John Stewart tells Utility Week: "In 2016 SSE became one of the first FTSE 100 companies to publish its gender pay gap, using the dra regulations available at the time. That exer- cise was both interesting and instructive and SSE now has two years of data to understand and act upon. "Genuine transformation for SSE, and across the UK's labour market, will require meaningful societal changes as well as improvements at organisational level. SSE is committed to being a leader for driving change in both of these areas." The network companies with the lowest gender pay gaps included SGN and Wales & West Utilities. SGN reported figures of 6.6 per cent (median) and 4.2 per cent (mean) for Scotland Gas Networks, and -1.3 per cent (median) and 0.7 per cent (mean) for South- ern Gas Networks . The numbers for Wales & West Utilities were -4 per cent (median) and 10 per cent (mean). Wales & West Utilities people and engage- ment director Sarah Hopkins says this is partly explained by "a strong internal, people-focused culture", "family-friendly, flexible policies" and an "emphasis on col- league wellbeing". Hopkins says the company has widened access to employment opportunities by removing academic qualifications where they are unnecessary and launching initia- tives to increase diversity. "These include direct engagement with schools and colleges to raise awareness of the careers we can offer, as well as social media advertising aimed specifically at girls, while highlighting the many positive female role models already in our company," she adds. Hopkins says the company is not resting on its laurels and is working hard to close the remaining gap in mean gender pay, which reflects "an industry that is histori- cally male-dominated". Generation and wholesale Among generation and wholesale trading companies, the largest gap was found at Horizon Nuclear Power, the company devel- oping the proposed Wylfa Newydd nuclear power station in Anglesey. The company reported a median pay gap of 43.9 per cent and a mean pay gap of 41.9 per cent. RWE Supply and Trading was not far behind, with a median pay gap of 35.4 per cent and a mean pay gap of 40.7 per cent. A spokeswoman for Horizon tells Utility Week that, as with many other companies in the sector, the gap is the result of "hav- ing fewer women than men in our more senior roles". ENERGY NETWORKS Brand/Parent company Company Median Pay Gap (%) Mean Pay Gap (%) Cadent Gas Cadent Gas Limited 13 8 Electricity North West Electricity North West Limited 16.3 11.3 National Grid National Grid Electricity Transmission PLC 14.5 5.8 National Grid Gas PLC -0.6 5.5 National Grid UK Limited 1.9 5.2 Northern Gas Networks Northern Gas Networks Operations Limited 16.2 14.6 Northern Powergrid Northern Powergrid (Northeast) Limited 27.8 22.6 Northern Powergrid (Yorkshire) PLC 16.2 17.8 SSEN Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution PLC 20.1 20.7 Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission PLC 36.1 33.4 Southern Electric Power Distribution PLC 18.7 14.6 SGN Scotland Gas Networks Limited 6.6 4.2 Southern Gas Networks PLC -1.3 0.7 SP Energy Networks SP Power Systems Limited 17.8 14.9 UK Power Networks UK Power Networks (Operations) 18.3 20.1 UK Power Networks (South East Services) 2.9 4.7 Wales & West Utilities Wales & West Utilities Limited -4 10 Western Power Distribution Western Power Distribution (East Midlands) PLC 4.4 8.7 Western Power Distribution (South Wales) PLC 10.5 12.6 Western Power Distribution (South West) PLC 10.9 12.9 Western Power Distribution (West Midlands) PLC 3.9 4.5 Western Power Distribution PLC 10.5 9 ENERGY GENERATION AND WHOLESALE Brand/Parent company Company Median Pay Gap (%) Mean Pay Gap (%) British Gas/Centrica British Gas Trading Limited 8.5 -0.6 Centrica Storage Limited 30.9 36.8 Drax Group Drax Power Limited 18.3 6.2 EDF EDF Energy Nuclear Generation Limited 18.8 18.3 EDF Energy PLC 31.5 31.9 EDF Trading Markets Limited 22.5 24.1 Engie Engie Power Limited 23.5 27.7 International Power Limited 24.2 22.2 Eon Eon UK PLC 11.6 10.9 Horizon Nuclear Power Horizon Nuclear Power Limited 43.9 41.9 Infinis Infinis Energy Services Limited 2.8 13.8 Lightsource Renewable Energy Lightsource Renewable Energy Holdings Limited -0.2 1.2 Orsted Orsted Power (UK) Limited -1.3 5.8 RWE/Innogy Innogy Renewables UK Limited 20 22 RWE Generation UK 8.4 11 RWE Supply and Trading GMBH 35.4 40.7 Scottish Power Scottish Power Renewable Energy Limited 15.5 20.2 Scottish Power UK PLC 21.9 23.2 SSE SSE Generation Limited 27 25.5 SSE PLC 19.3 22 Uniper Uniper UK 21.1 18.4

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