Gas companies are taking the p*ss

[ReginaPhelange89]

All we've heard on the news for the past few months is how our energy bills are going to double / triple in October, and how people are already struggling with the cost of living. People can't afford to buy food, or heat their homes...

Then today Centrica announce they've made a record 1.3 Billion pounds in profit in the past six months... is it just me thinking WTAF?!

I don't understand it at all, can anyone please explain this to me?

I am feeling a bit furious by it all, and wondering how we, as a society can actually do anything about it?

I also think that people don't realise the difference between 1 million compared to 1 billion, so to make it clear just how large a sum a billion is in a scale of time....

• 1 million seconds is 12 days
  


• 1 billion seconds is 31 years
  

It is a ridiculously large amount of money to have as profit 😶

Just an overwhelming feeling that society is totally and completely f**d

Sorry for being such a Debbie Downer 😂

Some of that was made in their exploration division but you are dead right, we are in desperate times and i'd like the Govt to consider nationalising the industry so gas from the UK is used in the UK and not sold on world markets as a commodity.

It is outrageous- because the energy companies are putting the standing charge up too! Not just the actual used energy - which you’d think is the bit that’s got more expensive. I can imagine a little bit of increase to the infrastructure cost but not at the same scale as the cost of the actual energy.

Yh they are all gits. The rich get richer and squeeze the poorer. Meanwhile we will all moan at each other for demanding pay rises

It’s sickening, they will be directly responsible for deaths this winter.

Centrica have 6.5m domestic households as customers. Even if all of their profits came from the domestic supply that would only be an annual profit per household of £200, so a very small fraction of the overall bill.

In reality the actual profit per domestic household is under £100.

The profit comes from the part of the business that explores for new gas and oil resources. The part of the business that provides energy for customers isn't making huge profits, indeed they have to sell gas at a lower price than they pay for it. The people who you should blame are Russians.

They will! It's an awful situation.

We were saying on another thread it's not just the cold, but the increase in damp conditions and the negative impact on health

Assuming all that profit was generated in the UK, £1.3bn is under £20 per person in the UK.

I don't know about you but I wish my energy bills had only increased by £20pp per 6 months.

Don't worry trickle down economics will save us all .... 🙄

4 people in a household, thats £80 per month off your families bill, or £640 per year.. and thats just ONE company.

No that’s £20 total not per month :-(

I just wish Opec or whoever controls this would allow more gas from other countries? Or am I thinking of oil? Can other countries increase production and supply?

No, per year, not per month.

I also have to ask, how do you get from £80 per month to £640 per year?

oops typed faster than i was thinking !

No, that's £20pp per 6 months. The £1.3bn is for the 6 months to June.

4 people in a household = £80 for 6 months. Or £160 per year.

I know people like to wang on about evil energy suppliers eating babies etc, but the reality is that even if Centrica decided to make no profit at all and take a break-even position, individual consumers would only see a few pounds - at most - off their monthly bills. Small change when the overall monthly cost is tripling or more.

Energy companies generating profits are not the reason our energy costs are so high.

I was actually just reading this article about the energy company profits which I have to say did put things into perspective for me. It isn’t them that are causing the problem.

Sky news . Why we should want Shell and Centrica to keep making money.

Read an article saying that Germany are planning to ration gas this winter

That is a great article. Really outlining the reason for high energy prices (Russia) and the lack of true profit suppliers are making (£6 per annum per household for British Gas, for example).

People need to educate themselves about these things before falling for clickbait headlines.

If the government wants to improve air quality they need to get these companies in check. I’m planning on opening up another fireplace at home and moving entirely to wood burning this winter rather than using central heating. Doubt I’m the only one.

It plays to the lowest denominator and makes people angry.

Which sells more papers?

"OMG, these evil companies are making billions in profit whilst your bills go up"

or

"The reasons for energy price increases are complex, global, and multi-facted, exacerbated by the Ukrainian conflict, and by our governments lack of impetus to do anything about it."

People don't want to think, they want outrage and blood.

And of course it’s generally those who are too lazy to do the reading or who are unable to understand the economics who are struggling to afford to pay their bills.

And of course it’s generally those who are too lazy to do the reading or who are unable to understand the economics who are struggling to afford to pay their bills

So a care worker or another on a nr min wage is at fault because they don't read the FT.... Tories really do live up to the Rayner comment.