PROFITEERING energy distributors are enjoying “eye-watering profits” as their own workers and bill-payers are forced into food poverty, activists warned today.

Campaigners protested outside the Crawley offices of mega-rich UK Power Networks after Unite the union warned that its members at the biggest electricity distributor in south-east England are struggling to make ends meet.

Staff are being denied a “cost-of-living” wage boost and more than 15,000 residents in the West Sussex town are unable to pay record-high energy bills as the firm’s profits top £2.4 billion, the union charged.

General secretary Sharon Graham said: “Workers and communities are being hit hard by excessive profiteering,” saying: “The British economy is broken.”

Research commissioned by Unite shows that a fifth of Crawley’s population — 23,700 people — are suffering from food poverty as 40-year high inflation combines with a move by Tory ministers to freeze gas and electricity costs at an average annual high of £2,500.

The study, conducted by leading polling firm Survation, also reveals that nearly a third of people in the area have either gone into debt or increased their debt levels to meet soaring grocery costs. 

UK Power Networks, which is owned by Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Group, had an average operating profit margin of over 50 per cent between 2017 and 2021, much higher than comparable companies, according to Unite. 

The energy bills of a quarter of British households are therefore being inflated by the firm’s “excessive profits, in turn hurting communities like Crawley,” the union argued. 

“It’s time to challenge the profiteers and end corporate greed,” Ms Graham said. “Workers and communities must join together to demand higher wages and freedom from fuel and food poverty.”

A UK Power Networks spokesperson told the Morning Star that it is making "significant investment to maintain reliable supplies and support the low-carbon transition, and our average cost to customers is less than £100 a year."

Our costs are set to fall 7 per cent in real terms during the next five years, while earning a 5 per cent return. We have kept our part of the bill among the lowest in the country while achieving better than 99 per cent reliability of power supplies and 93 per cent customer satisfaction.

"We support our employees and recognise their key role in this. Most of our employees have received above inflation pay increases over recent years and constructive pay negotiations continue to finalise a new pay settlement that is fair and affordable."