Despite what policitians and the media make out, most utilities make quite small profits per household supplied. The public have been misled about how much they make because most don't have the time or inclination to look into the data so they go with the narrative. Green Energy producers on the other hand are the true villains as your brilliant analysis shows. Almost the same profit made by producing just 2.5% of the electricity - I've not seen it presented in the this way and given that most people have been coerced into hating British Gas I will look forward with glee to seeing how they feel about the comparison.
What an outstanding business model. When presented like this it's no wonder the likes of Dale Vince and others defend their position so vehemently.
Wow. So British Gas are actually the workhorses picking up less than a penny in the pound while keeping the backbone of the energy structure of the country going. While the renewables are almost 100% percent pure grift supplying essentially a fart in a jar and calling it 100% Green.
We are being lied to again and again. Facts get conveniently buried and never ever forensically examined, yet other ‘facts’ emerge to become ‘the story’ For instance witness the recent Viking Link launch where the £500m savings per customer over ten years is the headline, but the reality of that being 0.5p per day per consumer isn’t.
Our politicians of every shade are fully ‘owned’ by the green blob, anyone who questions the narrative regardless of experience is accused of being a fossil fuel shill, an outcast in the lunatic fringe, as someone who doesn’t know anything and the wet behind the ears arts degree wavy hand ‘expert’ knows everything. Politicians hang on to their every word regardless of the truth, hence the ‘full decarbonisation by 2030’ bollocks we get from Ed Miliband.
A recent one is the ‘impartial’ CEO of Energy UK representing the ‘entire industry’ who arrogantly asserts that capacity market payments are ‘a subsidy for gas’
Capacity market payments being required to try and ensure security of supply under the onslaught of intermittent renewables and in more recent auctions they have even been awarded to those very same intermittent sources causing the issues in the first place.
I was one of those people riled by the announcement that British Gas made 10 times what they did they did the previous year, I must admit. This provides important context. Gas energy prices are now reasonable, electricity prices definitely are not, but that's not because BG are ripping off customers on electricity tariffs, it's because we are all being ripped off by 'Green' energy providers swallowing up taxpayer subsidies for inefficiently and expensively producing 'zero carbon' electrons. Not that I have any particular fondness for British Gas when they tried to force me to install a Smart meter to replace a faulty conventional meter by telling me that they would charge me if I didn't 'do the right thing' for the planet and get a 'free' smart meter. In the end the meter started working again all by itself and now BG are sending me concerned emails asking me if I'm OK (still alive) because I haven't topped up my leccie meter in a while and I don't appear to be using as much energy as they think I should! I sent them a polite response advising them that I am still alive and well and haven't moved house. LOL.
If anyone wants a spot of amusing light relief and a dose of broad Glasgow accents, watch the short segment from 42:00 of this edition of the Majority Show (fighting the SNP): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZbfCN-mwZc.
It is only tangentially relevant to David’s post but I find it a great small-scale metaphor and warning of the massive overspends, delays and failures of green political projects in general, e.g. inanities like carbon capture and storage, hydrogen hubs, wind farms (especially offshore), smart meters, heat pumps, EVs, ESG regulations, etc.
This clip is specific to the fiasco of the new “green” ferries (dual-fuel diesel and LNG) being procured by the SNP which are now running about five years late and about five times over budget. Everything our green politicians have turned to is falling about their ears and the last time I checked the UK was still about 79% dependent on fossil fuels for its primary energy supplies.
How does this line up with estimates that offshore wind is the most expensive energy source? Its currently collapsing in the US because of high LCOE. Are there subsidies that people don’t know about?
Great information to be aware of, thank you David. I am sorry I can’t figure this out on my own, but would it be possible to highlight just how much of the obscene income/profits are due to subsidies?
This article, and others of the same ilk, should be posted to every MP and Councillor in this land. The media may also be informed, in a bite sized piece of Anglo Saxon.
Comments like “Wow. So British Gas are actually the workhorses picking up less than a penny in the pound while keeping the backbone of the energy structure of the country going.” suggest that your readers are misled in thinking that you are comparing 2 generation types whereas actually you are comparing the retail side of energy supply with part of the generation side. Retail has always been a small slice of the pie so not surprising that profits are smaller. You should compare with the profits of gas power stations if you want a more informative comparison.
The simple fact is, wind farms are the most inept, engineeringly incompetent power source ever peddled, second only to solar farms - they are however, great cash cows for developers, owners, landowners and share holders because of the over generous subsidies, CfDs and curtailment payments rinsed from consumers - wind & solar power is far from free and at least 3x more expensive than fossil fuel / nuclear alternatives
But they pay 'is majestee, gawd bless him, rent... So there's that.
Despite what policitians and the media make out, most utilities make quite small profits per household supplied. The public have been misled about how much they make because most don't have the time or inclination to look into the data so they go with the narrative. Green Energy producers on the other hand are the true villains as your brilliant analysis shows. Almost the same profit made by producing just 2.5% of the electricity - I've not seen it presented in the this way and given that most people have been coerced into hating British Gas I will look forward with glee to seeing how they feel about the comparison.
What an outstanding business model. When presented like this it's no wonder the likes of Dale Vince and others defend their position so vehemently.
Wow. So British Gas are actually the workhorses picking up less than a penny in the pound while keeping the backbone of the energy structure of the country going. While the renewables are almost 100% percent pure grift supplying essentially a fart in a jar and calling it 100% Green.
We are being lied to again and again. Facts get conveniently buried and never ever forensically examined, yet other ‘facts’ emerge to become ‘the story’ For instance witness the recent Viking Link launch where the £500m savings per customer over ten years is the headline, but the reality of that being 0.5p per day per consumer isn’t.
Our politicians of every shade are fully ‘owned’ by the green blob, anyone who questions the narrative regardless of experience is accused of being a fossil fuel shill, an outcast in the lunatic fringe, as someone who doesn’t know anything and the wet behind the ears arts degree wavy hand ‘expert’ knows everything. Politicians hang on to their every word regardless of the truth, hence the ‘full decarbonisation by 2030’ bollocks we get from Ed Miliband.
A recent one is the ‘impartial’ CEO of Energy UK representing the ‘entire industry’ who arrogantly asserts that capacity market payments are ‘a subsidy for gas’
Capacity market payments being required to try and ensure security of supply under the onslaught of intermittent renewables and in more recent auctions they have even been awarded to those very same intermittent sources causing the issues in the first place.
I despair.
I was one of those people riled by the announcement that British Gas made 10 times what they did they did the previous year, I must admit. This provides important context. Gas energy prices are now reasonable, electricity prices definitely are not, but that's not because BG are ripping off customers on electricity tariffs, it's because we are all being ripped off by 'Green' energy providers swallowing up taxpayer subsidies for inefficiently and expensively producing 'zero carbon' electrons. Not that I have any particular fondness for British Gas when they tried to force me to install a Smart meter to replace a faulty conventional meter by telling me that they would charge me if I didn't 'do the right thing' for the planet and get a 'free' smart meter. In the end the meter started working again all by itself and now BG are sending me concerned emails asking me if I'm OK (still alive) because I haven't topped up my leccie meter in a while and I don't appear to be using as much energy as they think I should! I sent them a polite response advising them that I am still alive and well and haven't moved house. LOL.
How can this be?! According to green-revered Carbon Brief, wind power is nine times cheaper than gas (according to their headline, although for some reason their link says four times cheaper): https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-record-low-price-for-uk-offshore-wind-is-four-times-cheaper-than-gas/
If anyone wants a spot of amusing light relief and a dose of broad Glasgow accents, watch the short segment from 42:00 of this edition of the Majority Show (fighting the SNP): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZbfCN-mwZc.
It is only tangentially relevant to David’s post but I find it a great small-scale metaphor and warning of the massive overspends, delays and failures of green political projects in general, e.g. inanities like carbon capture and storage, hydrogen hubs, wind farms (especially offshore), smart meters, heat pumps, EVs, ESG regulations, etc.
This clip is specific to the fiasco of the new “green” ferries (dual-fuel diesel and LNG) being procured by the SNP which are now running about five years late and about five times over budget. Everything our green politicians have turned to is falling about their ears and the last time I checked the UK was still about 79% dependent on fossil fuels for its primary energy supplies.
How does this line up with estimates that offshore wind is the most expensive energy source? Its currently collapsing in the US because of high LCOE. Are there subsidies that people don’t know about?
Great information to be aware of, thank you David. I am sorry I can’t figure this out on my own, but would it be possible to highlight just how much of the obscene income/profits are due to subsidies?
This article, and others of the same ilk, should be posted to every MP and Councillor in this land. The media may also be informed, in a bite sized piece of Anglo Saxon.
Can someone tell Mr Miliband about this? In a years time he could be in charge.
Have you ever done a video on the costs of Net Zero? Properly presented it could be effective at countering the propaganda
Comments like “Wow. So British Gas are actually the workhorses picking up less than a penny in the pound while keeping the backbone of the energy structure of the country going.” suggest that your readers are misled in thinking that you are comparing 2 generation types whereas actually you are comparing the retail side of energy supply with part of the generation side. Retail has always been a small slice of the pie so not surprising that profits are smaller. You should compare with the profits of gas power stations if you want a more informative comparison.
Also are those wind farm profits before or after the deduction of interest?
The simple fact is, wind farms are the most inept, engineeringly incompetent power source ever peddled, second only to solar farms - they are however, great cash cows for developers, owners, landowners and share holders because of the over generous subsidies, CfDs and curtailment payments rinsed from consumers - wind & solar power is far from free and at least 3x more expensive than fossil fuel / nuclear alternatives
David - if the unreliables provided just 2.5%, how much of the total UK electricity demand (%) did British Gas provide for their £751m?