Energy company profits “this is taking greed to all new heights” British gas unveils a five-fold jump in profits –just weeks after hitting it’s customers with double-digit price increases. The Centrica-owned provider has revealed full year profits have rocketed from 95 million to 576 million that’s an increase of 500% and this is just its residential arm. Centrica as a whole have seen their profits rise 40% from 1.39 Billion to 2 Billion. The price rises by the energy companies in the last few weeks are not just unjustified they’re blatant profiteering says the Competition Commission. They have raised their prices across the board by 15% and using as an excuse the increase in wholesale prices, but energywatch says when you’re the companies that set the wholesale price as well as sell it to the British consumer you can use this excuse at you leisure. If you remember last year, wholesale energy prices fell dramatically but this decrease was never passed on to the British consumer. An Energywatch statement confirms that energy companies are creaming off extra profits for as long as they are allowed to get away with it. Chief executive, Allan Asher, said: “We believe there should be a Competition Commission inquiry into whether there is a cartel at work. Consumers have had enough of the relentless profiteering from energy companies. “They deserve to know that the Government is going to put a stop to this relentless greed “ The GMB union are also complaining that while Centrica is making a killing, the company is claiming poverty and is planning to close its final salary pension scheme for all its staff. A spokesman from Unite commented “this is taking greed to all new heights” and British gas customers must be tearing their hair out at the scale of these so called profits. |