Gas and electricity bosses told 'give back profits'

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
Last Updated: 12:31am GMT 02/03/2008

The heads of the biggest gas and electricity companies are being ordered by the Government to hand over part of their multi-billion pound profits - or face a new windfall tax.

The Sunday Telegraph has learnt the chief executives of the utility giants have been summoned to Downing Street and given a dressing-down over the soaring sums being made from millions of customers.

They are being told that, unless they agree to subsidise a new nationwide "fuel poverty" scheme aimed at the 4.5 million poorest households, a levy will be put on their profits. It is understood that the fuel poverty programme is to be unveiled by Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, as part of the Budget on March 12.

The Government has moved to curtail what is increasingly seen as "excessive profiteering" by the utilities industry, with customers having to pay soaring household gas and electricity bills.

[LINK POSTED BY MEMBER] Only Members Can View This Truck Forum Link.

More socialism at work here folks.

Profit is EVIL...give it back.

Vote Democrat and see if this doesn't rear it's ugly head here too.

__________________
Big Red



Freedom wasn't won with a registered gun.

And what will the unintended results be? Even HIGHER power bills, power rationing, odd-even black-out days?

__________________

Sounds great to me. There's no need of the execs taking home millions or billions a year. They can well afford to help out some of the hardest hit people while still taking home a nice nice profit.

There was a company in the states that did that years ago. He paid his people a decent wage no matter what. People begged to work there.

The factory burned down, he paid their wages while it was being rebuilt!!! It was one of the best places to work in the USA for unskilled people and the owner took home a tidy profit as well.

People are way too greedy these days and so unwilling to pay their workers well and take home a little bit less. It's all Me, Me, Me, Me. I hate it.

I'm not saying give all your profit away - just don't be quite so greedy!!!!

The man who ran that company was dearly loved and had the most loyal employees working for him in the country. Everyone made a decent living and no one suffered. No one ever quit, either!!

Let's be clear about this thread was even started, Trucker W has a problem with "Big Oil" making a profit. If people are SO concerned about folks having to pay more for a gallon of fuel, why are there no cries to lower the fuel taxes here in America?

"For the first quarter of 2008, the average state gasoline tax is 28.6 cents per gallon, plus 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 47 cents per gallon. For diesel, the average state tax is 29.2 cents per gallon plus an additional 24.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 53.6 cents per gallon."

Let's get real, if it were another industry making a profit, the liberals would be touting it as a "Great American Success Story". Big, bad Oil Companies aren't supposed to make a profit though.

Would there be screams of protest if the price of hamburger went to $40 a pound? Of course not, can't accuse the poor American farmer of price gouging.

Will these same people who are in such a hurry to go after the profits of the Oil Companies be the same people who subsidize these companies when the price of a barrel of oil goes below what they consider excessive? What about when oil is no longer the "Big Dog" of American energy use, will we subsidize the Oil Companies when everyone is driving around in hydrogen vehicles?

Somehow I doubt it.

The reference you point out was voluntary on the part of the owner of the company.

Sounds like this was a good man to work for, but the choice was his to do what he did...

His choice alone.

The reference in the original piece is nothing more than government sponsored blackmail or extortion.

BIG DIFFERENCE.

It's exactly what Hillary said she wants to do with large profit companies here.

Now...IF you really want energy shortages and higher prices all around...go with the Liberal approach and outlaw profit all together.

Redistribution of wealth has always been a Liberal agenda.

__________________
Big Red



Freedom wasn't won with a registered gun.

A CEO in the US makes an average of $140k per year. Only the smallest minority get the "big bucks"
There are recent stories here in the US of Generous CEOs. For example; after Hurricane Katrina all but destroyed the Oreck Vacuum Cleaner Company in Gulfport, MS in 2005, Mr Oreck BOUGHT FEMA trailers and placed them on his property for his employees to live in and PAID them while the factory was being re-built. Oreck makes a fine product, and the CEO makes a GOOD living....should "we" take his money and give it to those who won't work?
How about Robert Scott; the CEO of Morgan Stanley who made the:

__________________

No, we should not take the money from them and give it to those who won't work.

I do believe, though, that it wouldn't hurt the CEOs who make in excess of $1 million a year to pay their employees better so they can earn a decent living.

I have no use for people who don't work. It really irks me to see people on welfare having it better than I did at one time but I can't do anything about it. I'd just like to see the extremely rich CEOs pay their employees a better wage instead of making a larger and larger gap between rich and poor. The middle class seems to be disappearing more every day.

My dad worked as a blue collar worker years and years ago but made enough (after 10 years working there) to support a wife, two kids and pay a mortgage and still have food, heat and clothing. Yup, we were poor but definitely not poorly off - we were warm, we were fed, we were housed and not by the gov't. It's almost impossible to do that any more if you're not a university graduate and it shouldn't be that way.

I just wish more CEOs who ARE filthy rich would spread the wealth around a bit more to their employees instead of taking home such high salaries themselves. Employers such as you mentioned above are still the exception rather than the rule, unfortunately

Most of the high payed CEO's give plenty of money to charity.

The point is, it should be up to the individual, whether they are a CEO, NFL Quarterback or NBA point guard how they spend their money.

It should not be up to the government to determine what is an excessive salary.

After all, more people have been to space then there are CEO's of Fortune 500 companies.

This is true, very true. And the gov't should not regulate such things - but maybe making more public who the rich really are and how their employees suffer while they get richer might help.

Too bad people are so darn greedy but that is human nature. I can't see the gov't getting involved in this and it being a good thing with ALL positive results, that's for sure.