i ll give you an example. this is a classic example. i just got back this morning from north dakota. i m going there because this state is a gem for investment. it s a good policy right across the river from fargo is a town called moorhead. i ve been there, okay. twenty five years ago. listen to this, everybody. this you don t even have to get into politics. understand what happened here. you got minnesota with a river separating from north kota. you got moorhead twenty five years ago. fifty thousand people in it. twenty five years ago, fargo had fifty thousand people. today you ve got two hundred and sixty thousand people living in fargo. you ve got microsoft, second largest campus, massive arts, biotech, energy businesses, but wait, go across the river. only two hundred yards. you step out, it looks like cuba. there s only thirty thousand people left in moorhead. the difference is minnesota policy. north dakota policy. wow. that s the difference. and here s why you re a nurse.
correspondent, theo leggett. net zero means hydrogen and solar. centrica says it is focused on clean energies of the future, but right now it s making bumper profits because of high oil and gas prices. they soared last year after the invasion of ukraine and the company, which owns british gas, is reaping huge benefits. last year it made £3.73 huge benefits. last year it made £3.3 billion, that s more than three times its profit from 2021. it also paid £1 billion in tax. like other energy companies it has come under fire for making big profits at a time when many consumers are struggling to pay their bills, and that s despite the government s decision to extend the energy profits levy, a special tax on energy businesses that was expanded last month. i energy businesses that was expanded last month. ., ~ u, last month. i don t think centrica is profiteering.
than triple for last year, because of rising oil and gas prices. the earnings were 3.3 billion pounds, compared to 948 million from the year before. british gas was recently criticised, for using debt agents to force fit pre payment metres, into the homes of vulnerable customers. here s our business correspondent, theo leggett. net zero means hydrogen and solar. centrica says it is focused on clean energies of the future, but right now it s making bumper profits because of high oil and gas prices. they soared last year after the invasion of ukraine and the company, which owns british gas, is reaping huge benefits. last year, it made £3.3 billion that s more than three times its profit from 2021. it also paid £1 billion in tax. like other energy companies, it has come under fire for making big profits at a time when many consumers are struggling to pay their bills, and that s despite the government s decision to extend the energy profits levy a special tax on energy businesses
of vulnerable customers. here s our business correspondent, theo leggett. net zero means hydrogen and solar. centrica says it is focused on clean energies of the future, but right now it s making bumper profits because of high oil and gas prices. they soared last year after the invasion of ukraine and the company, which owns british gas, is reaping huge benefits. last year, it made £35 billion that s more than three times its profit from 2021. it also paid £1 billion in tax. like other energy companies, it has come underfire for making big profits at a time when many consumers are struggling to pay their bills, and that s despite the government s decision to extend the energy profits levy a special tax on energy businesses that was expanded last month. i don t think centrica is profiteering.
like other energy companies, it has come under fire for making big profits at a time when many consumers are struggling to pay their bills, and that s despite the government s decision to extend the energy profits levy a special tax on energy businesses that was expanded last month. i don t think centrica is profiteering. it has to be remembered, particularly with upstream gas and oil extraction, that this a very difficult and challenge activity which is already pretty highly taxed in this country. british gas, which supplies energy to households and businesses, accounts for only a fraction of centrica s profits. the parent company isn t allowed to sell energy more cheaply to its own operation than it does to other suppliers. that makes it difficult to pass on the benefits of bumper profits to british gas customers. and there s another problem.