Just 20 energy companies have made a staggering £483 billion in profits since the start of the energy bills crisis[1] enough money to build 966 mid-sized hospitals in the UK or train 7 million nurses [2].
The startling sums have angered campaigners who argue in the spirit of Christmas that money could be used for better things, including helping the 6.5 million people in the UK who are in official fuel poverty.
Warm This Winter spokesperson Caroline Simpson said:
“We reckon it’s about time the energy industry stopped lining their own pockets and supported the estimated 8.8 million [3] people that have spent Christmas in cold damp homes”
To put it in context £483 billion could:
Warm This Winter, a coalition of over 80 charities and campaign groups, has highlighted the ‘obscene’ levels of profits made by a handful of companies that include energy producers (such as Equinor and Shell) through to the firms that control our energy grid (such as National Grid, UK Power Networks and National Gas Transmission) as well as suppliers (such as British Gas). It does not include supply chains or market trading firms.
The staggering sums are revealed in the End Fuel Poverty Coalition’s updated profit tracker. While the full range of figures for 2024 have yet to be declared, profits this year amount to £9bn with another £77bn of interims also declared.
Recent Ofgem price cap changes have seen energy bills creep upwards with a further 1.2% increase due to come into force from 1 January 2025.
Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:
“While consumers have again suffered in cold damp homes this winter, energy firms’ boardrooms have been celebrating further bumper profits.
“To add insult to injury, around a quarter of what is spent on heating our draughty properties is wasted, because the fact is that the UK has some of the worst insulated homes in Europe. Fuel poor households are literally seeing money fly out of their windows and into the pockets of the energy industry.
"We are repeatedly told that there is not enough money to provide support for older people with their energy or to roll out comprehensive programmes of insulation, but these figures show this is simply not true. There is plenty of money in the energy industry, it’s just not in the hands of hard-pressed customers.”
As recently as October, changes in the price cap meant that energy suppliers will be able to make an additional 11% in profits on every standard variable tariff. Analysis of these figures suggest that supplier profits allowed through the Price Cap could amount to c.£1.2 billion over the next 12 months, enough to cover the cost of Winter Fuel Payments for almost all pensioners. [7]
A March 2024 Warm This Winter Tariff Watch report also called for improvements in transparency of the ownership of these firms after it found that British households had been boosting the profits of Chinese and Qatari Government-backed funds that own the UK’s gas network. The cost of the gas network to consumers has surged 38% since 2021.
NOTES
[1] Researchers examined the declared profits of the 20 global energy firms the End Fuel Poverty Coalition is most asked to comment on. This sample of the industry ranges from energy producers (such as Equinor and Shell) through to the firms that control our energy grid (such as National Grid, UK Power Networks and Cadent) as well as suppliers (such as British Gas). It does not include supply chains nor market trading firms. Previous updates have been published on:
The updated tracker will be available online from 28 December 2024: https://www.endfuelpoverty.org.uk/news/energy-firm-profits-tracker/
[2] A mid-sized hospital costs around £500 million to build, according to NHS Providers. The Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at the University of Kent estimates that the cost of training a nurse is approximately £67,000.
[3] Opinium conducted an online survey of 2,000 UK adults between 22nd and 26th November 2024. Results have been weighted to be nationally representative. In 2023, there were 54,196,443 people aged 18 plus in the UK according to ONS.
[4] Energy for the whole of the UK - 42.9 billion British pounds 2022/23,
[5] In 2022/23, total expenditure on adult social care in England was £28.4 billion
[6]The cost of a human mission to Mars is estimated to be between $100 billion and $500 billion.
[7] Ofgem Price Cap decision, p4 https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/sites/default/files/2024-08/Summary_of_Changes_to_Energy_Price_Cap_1_October_to_31_December_2024.pdf. EBIT allowance from 1 October 2024 is £44 per standard variable tariff customer per year. Ofgem state that 27m customers are on a standard variable tariff. £44 * 27m = £1.19bn.
