LGBTQ Participants in the Energy Sector
The global energy sector is important in today's economy. Estimates suggest that in 2018, global energy investment reached around $1.85 trillion. Other figures estimate that global oil and gas exploration and production is the 8th largest industry in the world by revenue, worth $2.7 trillion in 2021. The energy sector includes electricity, oil and gas, coal, solar power, clean energy, and more.
The sector also employs a significant amount of labour around the world, estimated to be 65 million individuals by the International Energy Agency. Many of these come from the LGBTQ community. For example, a 2021 report from Australia’s Clean Energy Council reported that 13% of the clean energy industry’s personnel identified as LGBTQ.
The energy industry is being challenged on its lagging Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. For example, a 2022 survey by Pride in Energy in the UK revealed a 40% increase in LGBTQ+ discrimination in the energy industry since 2021.
Several LGBTQ organizations have been formed to address these issues in the sector. Pride in Energy UK is a diversity forum and network for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender members of the energy industry and their allies. As noted above, the group conducts an annual survey of members which assesses the state of workplace representation and acceptance. Out in Energy in the United States is a similar organization serving as a community development and visibility incubator for LGBTQ+ professionals working in the energy and climate sectors in that country. In Australia, the main driver of inclusion nationally and across all industries is ACON and the group’s Pride Inclusion Programs. Nuclear Pride brings together the LGBTQ community in the nuclear energy industry.
We have identified a number of prominent LGBTQ individuals active in the energy sector. These includes business leaders, academics, activists, consultants, economists, regulators, and politicians.
Canada
- Cecil Clarke, Minister of Energy
- William Gagnon, Energy Transition Advisor
- Robert Hanf, Board Member of Canadian Utilities, President and CEO of Nova Scotia Power Inc., Chief Legal Officer of Emera Inc., Executive Chairman of Barbados Light & Power Holdings Ltd., President and COO of Bangor Hydro Electric Company
- Mario Silva, Director of Toronto Hydro Electric System
- George Smitherman, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure
- Andrew Thomson, Minister of Public Safety, Energy and Mines
Germany
- Barbara Hendricks, Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
- Yvonne Ruf, economist on alternative energy and transitions
Great Britain
- Joshua Atkins, Chair of Pride in Energy
- Greg Barker, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change
- Angela Clayton, Nuclear physicist
- Ian Duncan, Minister for Climate Change in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Scott McGregor, CEO of Camco Clean Energy
- Darren Towers, Head of Sustainability and Environmental Leadership, EDF Energy
New Zealand
- Tamati Coffey, Chair - Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust
Norway
- Siri Hall Arnoy, Energy expert
Russia
- Sergei Ilupin, Nuclear Safety Institute
United States
- Sam Altman, investor in nuclear energy companies
- Sam Brinton, Deputy assistant secretary of spent fuel and waste disposition in the Office of Nuclear Energy for the Department of Energy
- Neil R. Brown, investment banker and specialist in energy
- Wouter Deconinck, academic specializing in experimental nuclear physics
- Allan Gilmore, Board Member of DTE Energy
- Christine Hallquist, CEO of Cross Border Power
- Todd Hawley, researcher of solar power
- Kristina Johnson, Under Secretary of Energy for Energy and Environment at the United States Department of Energy; Founder of Enduring Hydro
- Kimberlee Kearfott, Professor of Nuclear Engineering
- Victoria Kolakowski, California Public Utilities Commission
- Kris Mayes, Utilities regulation, renewable energy, and energy efficiency technologies
- Myrna Soto, Board Member - Consumers Energy
- Nancy Sutley, Government Advisor on Energy
- EJ Zita, academic researcher
See Also
- LGBTQ Environmental Activists
- Climate Change and Weather Experts from the LGBTQ Community
- Auto and Transportation Experts Who Identify as LGBTQ