Further energy firm profits will be announced this week as new Ministers are still to set out the measures that will be taken to keep households warm this winter.
Iberdrola (owners of Scottish Power), Equinor, Centrica (British Gas), EDF and Drax are all expected to post financial results this week.
A tracker that monitors the declared profits of firms ranging from energy producers through to the firms that control our energy grid as well as suppliers suggests that these five firms alone have profits running well into the hundreds of millions in recent years.
Warm This Winter spokesperson Fiona Waters said:
“Frankly it is just obscene. In fact it’s hard to grasp the mind boggling sums involved but it equates to global energy fat cat corporations making a billion pounds each week under the last government since the energy crisis started three years ago.
“That is why we have to bring back fairness and introduce a proper tax on all companies profiteering in the energy sector while six million people in the UK are living in fuel poverty, facing a stark choice between heating and eating.
“We welcome the new government’s pledge to prioritise lowering energy bills as part of the green energy transition, they have inherited a broken energy system but we must see urgent action to support struggling households through the next winter.”
In total, energy corporations have made nearly £427 billion in profits since the energy crisis according to the analysis of company reports to June this year.
A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition added:
“These figures show that there is plenty of money in our broken energy system. But rather than this money being used to help people struggling in cold damp homes and with the record cost of energy, the cash is being used to line the pockets of energy firms.
“As households struggle in energy debt and even turn to illegal money lenders, new ministers must step in. We need to ensure the most vulnerable households are protected with a more comprehensive warm homes discount, action to bring down energy debt and the Treasury must draw a line in the sand to stop this profiteering.”
Tessa Khan, executive director of Uplift added:
“The UK’s high dependence on expensive gas is why millions are still struggling with unaffordable energy bills. Energy companies obviously want to lock us into oil and gas for years to come to keep the profits rolling in, but the only way to reduce bills is to insulate homes and switch to homegrown renewable energy. We need to see the government now deliver on its commitment to move us off oil and gas and onto a better, fairer energy system.”
The energy industry profit tracker will be updated again at the end of the summer.
ENDS
Data extracted from the Energy Firm Profits Tracker. EDF has claimed that since 2018, the firm has invested double what it has made back into Britain, investing £2 for every £1 it has made. In 2023 EDF spent £3.6bn strengthening the country’s energy security and boosting jobs, compared to £3.4bn profit from the UK business.