Wednesday 22 October 2014
From building power plants or checking pylons, one in 44 jobs in the UK is now linked to energy.
The way our energy sector pulls its weight in the British economy is on show in a new report published today.
A quarter of all infrastructure investment in 2013 was in the energy sector, with £13.1 billion pumped into generation, transmission and distribution and supply.
The ‘Powering the UK’ report calculates energy is equivalent to around 6% of the UK’s total GDP.
It’s also a big contributor to the Exchequer, paying around £5.7 billion in taxes in 2013, as well as delivering £96 billion to the UK in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA).
Energy UK the trade body for suppliers and network firms commissioned the report by analysts at EY.
In her foreword to the report, Chief Executive of Energy UK Angela Knight said: “The numbers are impressive. They demonstrate how important the sector is to the prosperity and stability of the UK economy as a whole, as well as how it delivers an absolutely fundamental service for everyone.”
However the roles of companies in energy are “often taken for granted” when media attention focuses on affordability, she added.
Laying out the need for “long-term objectives” in terms of decarbonisation targets, the energy chief explained: “Certainty on legal, regulatory and policy issues is essential if investment is to come forward”.