Energy giants have pocketed over £420 billion in profits since the energy crisis started according to a new analysis of company reports. [1]
Researchers examined the declared profits of firms ranging 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).
Around £30 billion of these profits (the equivalent of over £1,000 per household) are thought to be made by the firms and business units responsible for electricity and gas transmission and distribution.
These are the “network costs” consumers pay for maintaining the pipes and wires of the energy system and are usually paid for through standing charges on energy bills.
Electricity standing charges have surged in recent years and from 1 April will be 147% higher than in 2021 – powered by fees such as the 14 hidden charges on every bill for network costs.
Gas standing charges have increased by 15% since 2021, but a recent report for the Warm This Winter campaign found that the network costs for gas are charged differently, through both gas unit costs and standing charges.
Researchers found that the estimated price each household contributes on gas network costs has risen from £118.53 a year in 2021 to £163.69 a year from 1 April 2024 (a 38% increase).
From 1 April the costs that households pay for every unit of energy they use will decrease slightly – but are still almost double what they were in 2021. But standing charges will rise. Compared to the previous quarter, electricity standing charges go up 13% and gas standing charges increase 6%.
A spokesperson for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, commented:
“The energy firms are taking us for April fools.
“As standing charges go up today, households will have to cut back on their energy use just to keep their bills the same. This means households continue to suffer as a few energy firms make billions in profits.
“These numbers may look like fantastic amounts to shareholders, but the reality is that these profits have caused pain and suffering among people living in fuel poverty for the last few years.”
Warm This Winter spokesperson Fiona Waters said:
“The public are beyond frustrated at being a cash machine for companies who use our broken energy system to cream as much profits as they can out of them, while hard working people are up to their eyeballs in energy debt and fat cat bosses splurge their excessive wealth on luxuries.
“This data should put to bed any final opposition to a proper Windfall Tax on energy firms which ministers must use to help people who are still paying 60 percent more than they were on their energy bills three years ago.
“We need to stop pandering to these profiteers and focus on expanding homegrown renewable energy and a mass programme of insulation to bring down energy bills for good.”
ENDS
[1] The data was compiled from publicly available accounts and financial statements, using the best available measure of company profits by a freelance city journalist. These measures differ from company to company due to reporting processes and regulatory requirements in different jurisdictions. In determining which measure of profitability to use, the research has prioritised the measure preferred in the company’s own accounts.
Table 1: GROUP RESULTS FOR FIRMS PROFITING FROM ENERGY CRISIS
| COMPANY (profit type) | Financial Year (FY) ending in 2020 | FY ending in 2021 | FY ending in 2022 | FY ending in 2023 | FY ending in 2024 [interims where available] | TOTAL SINCE ENERGY BILLS CRISIS |
| SSE (Group – Pretax profit adjusted) | £1,023,400,000 | £1,064,900,000 | £1,164,000,000 | £2,183,600,000 | £565,200,000 | £6,001,100,000 |
| Cadent (Group – Operating profit) | £924,000,000 | £901,000,000 | £685,000,000 | £945,000,000.00 | £2,510,000,000 | |
| Electricity North West (Pre tax profit) | £87,000,000 | £145,600,000 | £64,800,000 | £26,000,000 | £195,000,000 | £518,400,000 |
| Northern Powergrid (Net income / earnings) | £158,790,000 | £195,130,000 | £304,150,000 | £136,670,000 | £794,740,000 | |
| National Gas Transmission (Operating profit) | £475,000,000 | £484,000,000 | £512,000,000 | £619,000,000 | £2,090,000,000 | |
| UK Power Networks (EBITDA) | £1,270,200,000 | £1,294,300,000 | £1,328,900,000 | £1,410,400,000 | £5,303,800,000 | |
| Northern Gas Networks (Group Operating Profit) | £213,246,000.00 | £157,642,000.00 | £151,142,000 | £210,687,000 | £361,829,000 | |
| SGN (Operating profits) | £600,600,000 | £526,500,000 | £364,300,000 | £439,500,000 | £1,930,900,000 | |
| Ovo Energy (Operating profits) | -£238,000,000 | £367,000,000 | -£1,582,000,000 | -£1,453,000,000 | ||
| Octopus Energy (Operating profits) | -£47,910,000 | -£117,400,000 | -£188,400,000 | £243,300,000 | -£110,410,000 | |
| Shell (Profit/Adjusted Earnings) | £3,828,340,000 | £15,238,310,000 | £31,497,300,000 | £22,317,500,000 | £11,628,800,000 | £84,510,250,000 |
| BP (Underlying Replacement Cost Profit (URCP)) | -£4,495,100,000 | £10,123,850,000 | £21,845,870,000 | £10,930,440,000 | £38,405,060,000 | |
| Equinor (Adjusted Earnings) | £3,111,020,000 | £26,453,940,000 | £59,202,600,000 | £28,613,800,000 | £117,381,360,000 | |
| Centrica (Adjusted Operating Profit) | £447,000,000 | £948,000,000 | £3,308,000,000 | £2,752,000,000 | £7,455,000,000 | |
| National Grid (Statutory Pre-Tax Profit) | £1,754,000,000 | £2,083,000,000 | £3,441,000,000 | £3,590,000,000 | £1,371,000,000 | £10,156,000,000 |
| EDF (EBITDA) | £13,909,640,000 | £15,484,300,000 | -£4,287,960,000 | £34,314,000,000 | £13,851,160,000 | £73,271,140,000 |
| EON (EBITDA) | £5,938,300,000 | £6,784,540,000 | £6,930,740,000 | £8,058,200,000 | £27,711,780,000 | |
| Iberdrola (EBITDA) | £8,608,772,000 | £10,324,902,000 | £11,376,166,000 | £12,398,620,000 | £42,708,460,000 | |
| Drax (Group – pre tax profit) | -£235,000,000 | £122,000,000 | £78,000,000 | £796,000,000 | £761,000,000 | |
| Wales & West (pre tax profit) | -£24,400,000 | £25,900,000 | -£176,900,000 | £263,100,000 | £87,700,000 | |
| TOTAL PROFIT | £420,395,109,000.00 |
Table 2: RESULTS FOR FIRMS OR BUSINESS UNITS INVOLVED IN GAS AND ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSMISSION (i.e. network costs)
| COMPANY | Type | FY ending in 2020 | FY ending in 2021 | FY ending in 2022 | FY ending in 2023 | FY ending in 2024 [interims where available] | TOTAL SINCE ENERGY BILLS CRISIS |
| SSE | E Transmission | £218,100,000.00 | £220,900,000.00 | £380,500,000.00 | £372,700,000.00 | £215,600,000.00 | £1,407,800,000.00 |
| SSE | E Distribution | £356,300,000.00 | £267,300,000.00 | £351,800,000.00 | £382,400,000.00 | £120,100,000.00 | £1,477,900,000.00 |
| Cadent | G Transmission & Distribution | £924,000,000.00 | £901,000,000.00 | £685,000,000.00 | £945,000,000.00 | £2,510,000,000.00 | |
| Electricity North West | E Distribution | £87,000,000.00 | £145,600,000.00 | £64,800,000.00 | £26,000,000.00 | £195,000,000.00 | £518,400,000.00 |
| Northern Powergrid | E Distribution | £158,790,000.00 | £195,130,000.00 | £304,150,000.00 | £136,670,000.00 | £794,740,000.00 | |
| National Gas | G Transmission & Distribution | £475,000,000.00 | £484,000,000.00 | £512,000,000.00 | £619,000,000.00 | £2,090,000,000.00 | |
| UK Power Networks | E Distribution | £1,270,200,000.00 | £1,294,300,000.00 | £1,328,900,000.00 | £1,410,400,000.00 | £5,303,800,000.00 | |
| Northern Gas Networks | G Transmission & Distribution | £213,246,000.00 | £157,642,000.00 | £151,142,000.00 | £210,687,000.00 | £361,829,000.00 | |
| SGN | G Transmission & Distribution | £543,000,000.00 | £509,000,000.00 | £339,000,000.00 | £452,000,000.00 | £256,000,000.00 | £2,099,000,000.00 |
| National Grid | E Transmission | £1,316,000,000.00 | £1,027,000,000.00 | £1,055,000,000.00 | £993,000,000.00 | £838,000,000.00 | £5,229,000,000.00 |
| National Grid | G Transmission & Distribution | £347,000,000.00 | £337,000,000.00 | £637,000,000.00 | £715,000,000.00 | £2,036,000,000.00 | |
| National Grid | E Distribution | £909,000,000.00 | £1,069,000,000.00 | £472,000,000.00 | £2,450,000,000.00 | ||
| National Grid | E Systems | £443,000,000.00 | £443,000,000.00 | ||||
| SP Energy Networks | E Distribution | £860,000,000.00 | £905,408,000.00 | £940,238,000.00 | £1,059,348,000.00 | £3,764,994,000.00 | |
| Wales & West | G Distribution | -£24,400,000.00 | £25,900,000.00 | -£176,900,000.00 | £263,100,000.00 | £87,700,000.00 | |
| TOTAL PROFIT | £30,486,463,000.00 | ||||||
| Cost per household | £1,051.26 |
Data as at 26 March 2024.
The data was compiled by freelance business journalist David Craik. David’s experience has included writing business and city news and features for national newspapers and magazines such as The Daily Mirror, Sunday Times, Wall Street Journal, Scotsman and Daily Express. Much of his content focuses on company financial results and reports in the energy sector and on personal finance issues including wealth management, property, investing and managing household budgets and bills. If any firm wishes to correct the records below, please email info@endfuelpoverty.org.uk.