Energy regulator Ofgem has set a 50% target for gender equality across all levels of the energy sector by 2025.
As part of a pledge published with the POWERful Women Initiative, Ofgem said it had “raised the bar” and called for all energy firms it regulates to “follow suit”.
Ofgem said it wants to achieve 50% female representation across all its pay grades by 2025, from the sector’s most junior roles up to senior civil servant.
Dermot Nolan, chief executive of Ofgem, said: “At Ofgem, we think it’s hugely important to put more effort and resources into becoming a more diverse organisation.
“We recently launched our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy which includes the target to achieve 50% female representation across all its pay grades, from the most junior roles all the way up to our Senior Civil Servants.
“Over the same time period, we aspire to achieving a minimum of 18% minority ethnic representation across all Ofgem pay grades, with at least 9% at each grade being women from an ethnic minority.
“This should render our gender and ethnicity pay gaps negligible.”
The latest statistics on gender equality in the sector show women only occupy 16% of board seats and only 6% of executive board seats.
Currently, 42% of companies in the sector have no women in board positions at all.
Louise Kingham, board member of PfW and chief executive of the Energy Institute, said: “Ofgem’s commitment to drive inclusion and balance in the organisation is very welcome indeed.
“It’s right for the organisation, its people and the customers it ultimately seeks to serve.
“Ofgem is increasingly holding energy companies to account on this agenda, to understand actions companies are taking to change, and as they progress they will be able to share their learnings too.”
