THE Tories were accused of allowing energy companies “to laugh all the way to the bank” today after British Gas announced a record £969 million profit in the first half of this year.

Unions and fuel poverty campaigners reacted with disbelief as Britain’s biggest household energy supplier said a rise in the regulator Ofgem’s energy price cap netted it £500m alone.

Its parent company Centrica said profits at its gas and electricity supply arm soared by 889 per cent from a year earlier as a result of the increased amount it could charge per unit of energy.

This coincided with a drop in energy costs from a 2022 peak due to the war in Ukraine, with oil giant Shell also announcing £3.9 billion in profits in the three months to the end of June today.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “While families across Britain have struggled to pay their bills, energy companies have been allowed to laugh all the way to the bank.

“The government could have imposed a proper windfall tax on excess profits. But instead it has chosen to leave billions on the table.

“This was a political choice that has benefited shareholders instead of hard-pressed households. Big oil and gas have gotten away with treating the public like a cash machine.

“Our failing energy retail companies should be brought into public ownership. That’s the way to bring down bills and invest in home improvements.”

A Momentum spokesman said: “Today’s news of more energy super-profits lays clear the daylight robbery of our energy system: while millions of ordinary people have struggled to manage sky-high bills, the likes of British Gas have been laughing their way to the bank thanks to surging profits.

“It’s little wonder, then, that two-thirds of the public back public ownership of energy. It’s time for politicians to catch up.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said it was a “no brainer” public ownership of energy firms was the “only way to end the chaos in our energy supply.”

“Both the government and Labour need to decide whose side are they on,” she added after shadow climate and net zero secretary Ed Miliband vowed to introduce a “proper windfall tax” on oil companies and promote cheap renewables to bring down bills for households.

Debt Justice executive director Heidi Chow said the “obscene” profits “have been made at the expense of millions of UK households that have been plunged into debt and arrears because of record energy prices.”

End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis added: “At a time when household energy debt is spiralling to record levels and energy bills remain double what they were just a few years ago, the profits posted will be greeted with disbelief by those struggling through the crisis.

“There will of course be questions about how these profits were made, but the reality is that energy firms are operating on a playing field set by the government.

“People will rightly ask what this government is doing to curb these profits and fix our broken energy system.”

He said the only way to permanently lower energy bills was to insulate homes and switch to renewables, urging the government “to stop singing to the tune of the energy giants and start actually delivering a functioning energy system that works for everyone.”

Centrica boss Chris O’Shea insisted the profits were a “one-off” due to the £500m price cap gain, which he cast as “simply a recovery of costs that we incurred in the past.”