British Gas owner Centrica sparked outrage after declaring profits had increased fivefold to £1.34 billion, just as it emerged UK household energy bills could soar to £500 a month amid Russian threats to cut Europe's gas reserves.
The bumper operating profit for the six months to the end of June compared to the £262 million recorded in the same period last year.
Centrica, which delivers energy as well as selling it to households and businesses, reported it would restart its dividend at 1p per share after stopping it for three years.
Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle ranted at today's news, saying that this was not profit, this was theft from the British people and that each penny of this should be returned with immediate effect.
He said that people will starve this winter, but the government's failed energy cap, which was as useful as a chocolate teapot, and energy company greed had led to this.
Seventy-five of energy is domestically produced, but the cost of production hasn't been increased.
Struggling consumers took to Twitter to criticise the company for obscene greed, while Kate Osborne, MP for Jarrow, called for it to be nationalised.
Former Energy UK chief Angela Knight also weighed in on the issue, telling TalkTV there was a major question mark over those making tremendous gains from an extraordinary world situation.
Centrica chief executive Chris O'Shea defended the firm, insisting that the profit jump was not caused by the consumer industry.
The businessman, who's previously enjoyed an annual salary of up to £5.7 million but reported in February this had decreased to £775,000 after he waived his bonus, added that it was essential to restart the dividend to support pensioners whose revenue relies on dividends.
It was said that the source of their profits was not consumers rising energy bills, and he said, that profits at British Gas had fallen to £98 million, down 43 per cent compared with before the energy crisis a year ago.
British Gas added more than 200,000 customers in the first place of the year amid an energy crisis that's destroying many of its competitors, including failed supplier Together Energy.
It came as projections indicated the average household could face a bill of £500 for energy in January 2023, with a projection of an annual price cap of £3,850.
Wholesale gas prices surged after Vladimir Putin's regime halved supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, in what Germany condemned as a duplicitous game.
The bottom line is that Vladimir Putin is making a lot of money from us while our energy companies are making even more, and I think that we're going to be fleeced good and proper, and it just illustrates how they're just ripping us off while they prepare to kill off entire chunks of the population to keep shareholders satisfied and it's just criminal.
But Boris Johnson has responded to the situation and said that sometimes we have to go through times of difficulty. Like it even affects him - he's certainly not going to go cold this winter, especially with all that hair and underbelly, and although he's going, Rishi Sunak will do the same thing, so folks, get used to it, we're going to freeze this winter, and like most businesses, it's all about greed.
Let's face it, capitalism is just for billionaires - just ask Rishi Sunak who doesn't even have any genuine friends, and if you believe that Liz Truss is any more useful than Rishi Sunak then think again because they're just two sides of the same coin.
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