Centrica boss calls for 'social tariff' as British Gas profits soar

The boss of British Gas's parent company has called again for a "social tariff" to allow less well-off Brits to pay less for their gas and electricity. The call comes as the energy supplier announced a large increase in profit.

Chris O'Shea, chief executive of Centrica, said that a special tariff for those struggling most would be "the best thing we can do for consumers". It comes as Centrica's retail arm, which is mainly made up of British Gas, saw its profit jump from £94 million in 2022 to £799 million last year.

All of the profit came from the first half of the year, and was mainly due to how the energy price cap works. In the first half of last year, British Gas and other energy suppliers were allowed to recover some costs from the energy crisis. For British Gas, this added £500 million to its bottom line.

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Mr O'Shea said that companies need to make a profit to stay healthy. The failure of many unhealthy suppliers in recent years has cost households around £88 each. But he believes more needs to be done to protect the poorest.

He told reporters: "The poorest in society are really struggling but it's not just the energy. It's energy, it's rent, it's mortgages, it's food and all manner of costs. What I'm focused on is how do we fix this in energy and that's why we need a social tariff, that's why we need the standing charge to disappear."

He added: "I think that's the best thing we can do for consumers. That will reduce the cost for the poorest in society, the people that are really, really struggling."

Centrica's adjusted profit fell to £2.8 billion before