There’s a bit in The Avengers movie (not the Sean Connery one) where our group of superheroes are facing down a big alien monster and things are looking grim.
As the giant creature rushes towards them, Captain America turns to Mark Ruffalo, aka Dr Bruce Banner, and tells him to get angry.
Turning away from Mr America, Ruffalo says: “That’s my secret Cap… I’m always angry.”
He then turns into The Hulk and smashes the big alien to pieces.
I feel a strong connection with Mark Ruffalo’s character in that moment these days.
I would imagine a lot of people do.
Except we don’t have the option of using our anger to transform into a massive green super giant and smash the behemoth.
Instead, we just sob quietly and pay our skyrocketing fuel bills as BP and Shell brag of making billions in profits.
Our behemoth runs right over the top of us, time and time again.
Big names profit while consumers reach breaking point
On Tuesday BP, a UK company, announced profits of £6.9bn for the yearly quarter April to June.
Six point nine billion. In three months.
It’s reported to be their biggest quarterly profit in 14 years.
Last week, Shell, another UK company, announced profits of £10bn for the same period.
Ten billion pounds. In three months. Profit.
When confronted with the soaring profits of his company amid soaring fuel bills for his customers, Shell’s chief executive, Ben van Beurden, said: “It is what it is.”
Them’s the breaks in other words.
But it is breaking point for a lot of people.
So much for the energy price cap
In February Ofgem raised the energy price cap by 54% to £1,971.
It is expected to go up significantly again in October and January.
Cornwall Insight, an independent energy research firm, predicted this week that the cap will increase to £3,359 and then £3,616 in those months.
Our new price cap forecasts show a typical energy bill will be over £3,000 p.a for the next 15 months, with the average bill over Summer 2023 (Apr-Sep) sitting at £3,649.
Oct 22 and Jan 23 caps are now forecast to be £3,359 and £3,616 respectively.
👉https://t.co/SKNWBJfbFG pic.twitter.com/49OGgRImke
— Cornwall Insight (@CornwallInsight) August 2, 2022
And all while petrol currently sits above 1.80 a litre. Diesel even higher.
It’s unsustainable and a terrifying prospect for anyone hoping to heat their homes through the winter.
For families expecting to feed their kids and themselves.
For older people not wanting to become a fuel poverty death statistic.
And for folks needing to drive to work.
Basically for everyone not wanting to be financially crippled for having the audacity to exist.
They say this is a cost of living crisis.
But it appears more and more to be a propping-up-the-profits-of-the-big-oil-behemoths-crisis.
Between them, BP and Shell made £17bn in three months. That number might help explain the “cost” part of the crisis.
And how much will they rake in when our bills shoot up again – and again?
And why are Ofgem allowing it?
So what does Ofgem do?
If the regulator was a body part it would be the appendix .
Redundant at its original function it now only exists to cause unexpected pain and misery.
To leave you curled in the foetal position asking why.
And why is a question we should all be asking at this time.
Namely why has our system allowed obscene profiteering of this nature to occur at the expense of ordinary people?
So we stay angry. All of the time.
And sometimes that anger is tiring instead of empowering.
And we’ve an Ofgem instead of a Hulk.
But while that anger still exists the Endgame is all to play for.
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