To think this is very morally wrong

[Lovelycupofcoffee]

So I read today that energy companies are making huge profits and some of their directors are getting paid huge bonuses. I find this absolutely disgusting when there are families choosing between paying electric bills or cutting back on feeding their family . Could the government not step in and shop this ? Come October it’s going to get worse but surely we shouldn’t have to be choosing between food or paying our electric bill. If these companies are making so much money why increase the standing charge for gas/ electric? There is something very wrong here.

its a fiasco. Tory’s won’t do diddly squat. Why would they? Too busy rubbing their hands in glee

"Let's nationalise the energy companies"
The government was forced to nationalise Bulb in November 2021 after it collapsed and there were no suitable offers to take on the business. This has already cost £1.7 billion and caused an increase in domestic bills for all of us, but in commie cuckoo land we need more of this.

"The group’s underlying profit on a replacement cost basis, the measure most closely tracked by analysts, rose to $6.2bn in the first three months of the year, the highest since 2008 and more than double the $2.63bn recorded a year earlier.

The bumper figure, which came despite a loss of earnings from Russia after taking a mammoth writedown on its business in the country, came on the back of BP’s highest full-year profit in eight years."

www.ft.com/content/6f584312-d760-4978-9be0-4897cbc8b172

I'm not being selective, I'm reporting their statutory, IFRS numbers. Adjusted measures are what grab the headlines but it is statutory results that create distributable reserves which allow the payment of dividends and other distributions to shareholders. What I've quoted is no more selective than what you've quoted, it's just my numbers are the actual statutory results.

Does that grown up debate include acknowledging that the reality of fracking in the UK is going to be private companies extracting fuel and selling it to the highest bidders abroad, thus profiting at our expense (which will include earthquakes, pollution and endangering wildlife and the ecosystem)?

We should be opening our own wind farms & harnessing the power of the sea, we are surrounded with water, why don't weput more wind turbines off the coast & also generate electricity with the tides?

We should be opening our own wind farms & harnessing the power of the sea, we are surrounded with water, why don't weput more wind turbines off the coast & also generate electricity with the tides?

We should be opening our own wind farms & harnessing the power of the sea, we are surrounded with water, why don't weput more wind turbines off the coast & also generate electricity with the tides?

Normally bonuses for executives ect are tied up in the contracts when they joined x energy companies, and or are performance related etc.

Plus does anyone consider that just because they achieve x profits, is that before or after tax, is that before or after operating costs, research and development costs, etc.

How exactly is the balance sheet truly reflective of the profits when it's all accounted for ?

I know, isn’t it great to be a net energy exporter? It’s very lucrative for the economy.

@sst1234 lucrative for whose economy though? Even if fracking wasn't likely to be a dangerous imposition on the land and lives of many people, most of them won't see a penny of the dividends. Instead, companies like Cuadrilla Resources will be rewarding directors and shareholders, many of whom will have offshore accounts.

How would he have lowered the wholesale price of gas, pray tell?

The French invested in nuclear power. Our generation on the other hand is 60% gas-fueled. That's why we're more exposed to wholesale gas prices than the French.

Could they still not impose another windfall tax that would in turn possibly affect CEO’s bonuses and certainly lower dividends?

Yes a family member started work for an English energy company bought by One if those who then moved their professional services overseas -so redundancy

He couldn’t lower wholesale gas and electricity prices but state owned energy would not be trying to keep shareholders happy with annual dividends so the effect of the rise in wholesale prices would be at least mitigated.

On another note I was just reading that there were govt curbs on commodity speculation for much of the 20th century. Commodity speculation during volatile times can drive wholesale prices up even further. I would think international curbs on this would help also temper the wholesale prices.

To clarify my second point above I am talking about curbing energy commodity speculation.

Its just life, and to be fair its actually quite a christian thing:

Matthew 25:29, NASB: 'For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Matthew 25:29, NLT: To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance.

Of course its not moral but its what happens. Its what privatisation is all about, the 80s was basically an era of asset stripping national assets. I suspect Putin and his pals, all the oligarchs, got the idea from us when they took all Russia's assets and divided them up amongst themselves.

They do it because they can and the powers that be and the media will tell us its all in our best interest.

He couldn’t lower wholesale gas and electricity prices but state owned energy would not be trying to keep shareholders happy with annual dividends so the effect of the rise in wholesale prices would be at least mitigated.

@Friars23 that would be peanuts. The ones making the big money in this are the ones pumping it out of the ground and selling it at the wholesale rate, not those buying and distributing it.

They also got prosecuted for double dipping, did they pay that back? I suppose they will have got fined. They also bill people more than once, happened to both my parents so it must happen frequently. People don't check if they're being charged double or extra as some don't check their bank.

They aren't "owed" anything in reality given many debts are being paid by others. They are double dipping again.

All great until they lose an election and you're handing over absolute power of a government administering and controlling all services to Tories.

The energy traders in these companies earn way more than the CEOs....

Many of the larger companies are based outside the UK eg Eon (Germany) and EDF (France)

Are they charging the same prices in these countries as they are in the UK ?

Boris doesn't want to know and our other two candidates seem equally out of touch, I despair.

The UK economy. We have an energy crisis. That’s what the thread is about. We need more of it. Now. Based on US experience of fracking, it’s safer then letting people die of fuel poverty.