Connecticut’s two largest investor-owned utilities have quietly scrubbed references to “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives in recent months, online records show, following a trend in the corporate world of companies turning away from the terminology since President Donald J. Trump won a second term in office.

As recently as March, Eversource’s website boasted of its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion practices — more commonly known as DEI — that had earned the company accolades from publications such as Forbes and Bloomberg, according to versions of the site still available on internet archives.

As of this week however, that page redirects to Eversource’s main jobs website, which no longer contains references to DEI.

Gone, too, are references to the company’s 2023 report on its DEI initiatives, which Chief Executive Joe Nolan prefaced with a letter calling the programs “key to our ability to meet our customers’ needs,” adding, “we seek to create a workplace where employees of all backgrounds and perspectives are welcomed and can thrive.”

A similar shift in terminology around diversity programs also appears to have taken place at the state’s other major utility provider, United Illuminating’s parent company, Avangrid.

Last July, Avangrid announced the hiring of Ignacio Estella to serve as senior vice president of “DEI, Talent and Innovation.” While Estella remains a member of Avangrid’s senior leadership team, his title changed earlier this year to senior vice president of “Innovation, Talent & Equal Opportunity,” according to a review of online archives.

Both utilities said this week that the changes have not altered their broader commitment to fostering diverse and inclusive workplaces.

“We are committed to fair and consistent hiring practices that identify the most qualified talent,” Eversource spokeswoman Jamie Ratliff said in a statement. “The different perspectives and backgrounds of our employees and potential future employees make us stronger and create a more innovative team that brings immense value to our customers and the communities we serve.”

Ratliff went on to say that Eversource has kept intact its “inclusion council” — which she said plays a “key role in shaping our organizational culture” — as well as seven “business resource groups,” which are voluntary, internal networks for minorities, LGBTQ people, veterans and other affinity groups.

As a federal contractor, she said, Eversource is bound to comply with U.S. anti-discrimination laws and regulations. “We regularly review our policies and programs, and while we made adjustments to certain language and certain demographic data is no longer made publicly available, our commitment to fostering an engaged, respectful and supportive workplace remains the same,” Ratliff said.

Estella, the Avangrid executive, said in an interview Monday that the company has had an equal opportunity policy in place since 2015. The removal of the reference to DEI in his title, he said, was made to provide clarity and conformity to that policy, as well as state and federal laws.

Estella also pointed to ongoing efforts, including an upcoming report on the company’s accessibility for people with disabilities and a mentoring pilot program, as examples of the company’s commitment to that policy. He also noted that United Illuminating, Avangrid’s electric utility, is currently led by its first Black chief executive in the company’s 125-year history, Frank Reynolds.

“The true north of the work that we do is equal opportunity,” Estella said. “There can be no confusion if you’re clear in what you do. What I think is that there’s been no change in our mission to [offer] equal opportunity.”

The change at both companies came after President Trump took office in January and subsequently issued a series of executive orders targeting DEI programs in the federal government and among contractors. His administration also ordered federal agencies to “combat” similar programs in the private sector.

Since then, several major U.S. corporations have followed suit by rolling back DEI initiatives, including McDonald’s, Target and Meta. Other companies, such as Disney, have rebranded DEI programs with new language, while promising to continue their commitment to diversity.

State Rep. Derell Wilson, D-Norwich, the vice chair of the legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, pointed to Connecticut’s diverse workforce and said it was important that local companies not “bend to national pressure” over DEI programs.

“I would hope that they realize that diversity and inclusion is an important piece for workforce development opportunities, and that they continue to have measures beyond just equal opportunity for the diversification of workforce opportunities within the electric industry, but also the diversification of these opportunities in leadership,” Wilson said.

Joseph Malcarne, business manager at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 420, which represents around 600 unionized Eversource employees, said he hadn’t heard of any shift in the company’s policies and that workers are still being trained on diversity efforts.

He said it’s more likely the shift in language was made for “an audience of one.”

“If President Trump says no DEI stuff, then they’re going to take all the DEI stuff off,” Malcarne said.

About 450 Avangrid employees are represented by another union, the United Workers Union of America Local 470-1.

“What matters to me as a representative of the union is that the actual inclusion still exists, the equity still exists,” said Moses Rams, a line crew leader and local UWUA president.

Avangrid is a subsidiary of the Spanish power company Iberdrola, which previously published a “Diversity and Inclusion Anti-Harasssment Policy” on its corporate website, according to internet archives.

That page now directs to Iberdola’s “Sustainable Human Capital Management and Anti-Harassment Policy,” which was published in March. “Respect for equality of opportunity and non-discrimination, as well as the interests of professionals, are part of Iberdrola’s strategy,” the company’s website now states.

Rams said the union has pushed Avangrid to take steps to promote diversity in hiring since relations between the company and its workers reached a low point during a 2002 strike. He said he speaks regularly with Estella, and has not noticed any changes in the company’s policies other than terminology.

“I would make such a big deal if it weren’t this way, because we worked so hard to get here,” Rams said. “I’m proud to say that’s not the case.”

Companies involved in the interstate sale and transmission of electricity, including both Avangrid and Eversource, are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

As part of his administration’s campaign against DEI programs, Trump has also ordered federal agencies, including FERC, to stop considering environmental justice in decision-making. That order could block FERC from weighing the disproportionate impacts of projects such as pipelines and power plants in minority and low-income communities, according to a report from Bloomberg Law.