London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

Which energy firms met Boris Johnson – and how big are their profits?

Which energy firms met Boris Johnson – and how big are their profits?

Vital statistics on power-generation firms suspected of having cashed in on high energy prices

Boris Johnson met executives from some of Britain’s biggest energy companies on Thursday to discuss the cost of living crisis.

Johnson was flanked by the chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi, and the business and energy secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng. Zahawi said afterwards that the energy firms agreed to “do more to help the people who most need it” – but did not specify what that would entail.

The executives were from power-generation companies – which own assets including windfarms and nuclear power stations – rather than the oil and gas companies hit by the windfall tax, officially known as the Energy Profits Levy, after raking in bumper profits caused in part by the war in Ukraine.

However, there is a lingering threat that the levy may be extended to electricity generation companies amid accusations that they have also enjoyed a bonanza from high energy prices.

Below are the companies that attended the meeting, along with their profits and executive pay packages. While all operate in the UK, many are headquartered abroad.

Eon

Profits: €4.06bn (£3.4bn) in first half 2022
Chief executive: Leonhard Birnbaum
His pay: €1.2m (£1m) in 2021
Headquarters: Germany

National Grid

Profits: £3.4bn in 2021-22
Chief executive: John Pettigrew
His pay: £6.5m in 2021-22
Headquarters: UK

RWE

Profits: €2.6bn (£2.2bn) in first half 2022
Chief executive: Markus Krebber
His pay: €4.3m (£3.6m) in 2021
Headquarters: Germany

Ørsted

Profits: €1.75bn (£1.5bn) in first half 2022
Chief executive: Mads Nipper
His pay: €2m (£1.7m) in 2021
Headquarters: Denmark

Centrica

Profits: £1.3bn in first half 2022
Chief executive: Chris O’Shea
His pay: £775,000 in 2021 (£1.1m bonus waived)
Headquarters: UK

SSE

Profits in 2021/22: £1.2bn
Chief executive: Alistair Phillips-Davies
His pay in 2021: £4.5m
Headquarters: UK

Uniper

Profits: €1.2bn (£1bn) in 2021
Chief executive: Klaus-Dieter Maubach
His pay: €1.9m (£1.6m) in 2021
Headquarters: Germany

Scottish Power

Profits: £925m in first half 2022
Chief executive: Keith Anderson
His pay: £1.35m in 2021
Headquarters: UK

Drax

Profits: £225m in first half 2022
Chief executive: Will Gardiner
His pay: £2.7m in 2021
Headquarters: UK

EDF Energy

Losses: €5.3bn (£4.5bn) loss in first half 2022
Chief executive: Simone Rossi
Pay of highest paid director, thought to be CEO: £1m in 2021
Headquarters: UK (but owned by the French government)


* This article was amended on 12 August 2022 to remove the details of Lightsource BP, whose executives did not attend the meeting.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×