A number of papers have reported on the comments of E.On boss Mark Owen-Lloyd. He said during a presentation that a cold winter would cause oil and gas prices to rise, which would 'make more money for us'. E.On has indeed made around £877m profit last year, which works out to around £150 per customer and in September it announced an increase of 16% in electricity prices and 26% in gas prices. Mark Owen-Lloyd might now be facing disciplinary action for his comments.
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown quickly condemned the so called "joke", saying it was inappropriate. Brown has persistantly refused to take any serious action against the energy companies (see Take over greedy energy companies) and Britain is not the only country where energy companies are making record profits out of the high energy prices. Neither is E.On reducing their prices by a single penny. "Joking" about this in public, however, is "bad taste". Especially, one might add, since it is true.
