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Power Companies Profit Half Billion In Three Months
August 2, 2010
Thanks to an unusually hot spring, the parent company of Gulf Power and Alabama Power recorded over a half billion dollars in profit in the second quarter of 2010.
Southern Company recorded three-month earnings of of $510.2 million, or 62 cents a share, compared with $478.6 million, or 61 cents a share, in the second quarter of 2009. For the six months ended June 30, Southern Company’s earnings were $1.0 billion, or $1.22 a share, compared with $604.3 million, or 77 cents a share, for the same period a year ago.
Weather was a primary factor driving earnings, as the Southeast experienced one of the warmest second quarters in more than a century. The economic recovery contributed positively to earnings. Industrial sales, which were up 13 percent for the second quarter compared to the same period in 2009, reflect improvement in industrial activity in the Southeast.
“We continue to see positive economic trends, particularly among our industrial and manufacturing customers,” said Chairman, President and CEO David M. Ratcliffe. “Our businesses continued to perform well overall in the second quarter, giving us solid results and keeping the company on track to deliver on our financial and operational goals for the year.”
Overall residential power usage increased 6.4 percent during the second quarter of 2010, while commercial use jumped 1.7 percent. Industrial usage was up 17 percent for the period ending June 30.
Comments
19 Responses to “Power Companies Profit Half Billion In Three Months”
Without profits they can not pay their workers or stay in business because no one would either work for them or invest in them. And oh by the way all the dollars that are paid out to the workers, contractors, investors goes at some point back into our communities. I think thay is whay it is called capitalism.
REGARDING:
“profit to be made on the backs of people that can barely afford to pay for for their basic needs. Power should be turned over to the public.”
You can’t really make much money off of people who don’t have any money.
Nonetheless, you are right. If we just hand over our power generation to the federal government, it will reliably provide us with all the free, reliable power we will ever want and lower taxes to boot.
Yeah, right.
It disgusts me that our government allows profit to be made on the backs of people that can barely afford to pay for for their basic needs. Power should be turned over to the public. Call and write your local politicians. Power to the people.
We live in the here and now. Don’t really care about the old days. Profits are being made everywhere you go and in everything that you use. That is normal. However, that does not mean you should profit at someone elses expense. Health, or whatever. I frankly don’t care, you have to pay what you have to pay. It was a comment and an opinion. Those can be made with the frustration of knowing things will not change.
REGARDING:
“I don’t think that I should pay MORE per apple when I buy more. I should pay either the same, or less per apple (buying in bulk discount)”
Yep, “why gripe when you buy more items and have to pay more per item?” should have been written “why gripe when you buy more items and have to pay more total?”
They aren’t charging more per kilowatt-hour nor are they raising the set fees such as night light charges or service fee.
Despite rumors to the contrary, it IS possible to live without air conditioning, just not as comfortably. In fact rumor and some memories tell of times when nobody had such newfangled contraptions. Folks had fans (either funeral home hand fans or mechanical fans), sat on porches, went to the creek, drank lots of liquids, discussed how hot it was.
David thinking now is better
The comments on this topic is the most intelligent one I have seen on North Escambia. However, I do believe we need a cut somewhere. The elderly will be found passed out or worse in the home they live in becasue they can’t afford to run the ac more than what they already do. I see things that are given to others in the line of work that I do because they are deserving of it? How about everyone else. Tax break, lower cost of services rendered. Something has got to give I think.
I agree that if I buy more apples, I should pay for them, but I don’t think that I should pay MORE per apple when I buy more. I should pay either the same, or less per apple (buying in bulk discount)
REGARDING:
“If we could get the Fair Tax passed we could get rid of all these taxes ”
Years back Florida did not have a sales tax. My father figured out a one cent sales tax would bring in more than all the existing taxes from property tax. He was right but they didn’t get rid of the other taxes, just added the sales tax and spent more money for things people wanted.
He came to realize taxes are not an either/or proposition but rather this one-and-that one
We hate our taxes but love the things they buy. Thus, we try to keep them up but shift them to others.
Is that all.
May need a rate increase.
After all it’s not taxes where everyone would complain.
@David
Your recommendations are absolutely great but have a faulty premise: They require the individual to do something for his/her-self.
It’s much more fun to beat up on the corporations.
[tongue-in-cheek]
If we could get the Fair Tax passed we could get rid of all these taxes on top of taxes that our elected officials waste.
Franchise fee would not be profit for the company since it is another name for sales tax on energy usage.
Half a billion is a thousand times a half a million.
If last year you bought ten apples and they made ten cents profit per apple then this year you bought fifteen apples and they still made ten cents per apple, their profits would rise fifty percent but YOU are the one who decided how many apples to buy. Some folks say, “Well, they made a dollar off of me from apples last year so they shouldn’t be allowed to make more than a dollar off of me this year no matter how many apples I buy because the economy is bad and I REALLY need more apples and they‘re a big company and don‘t really need to make a profit anyway.”
Apples and kilowatt-hours aren’t the same thing just as apples and oranges aren’t the same thing, but if you buy per item why gripe when you buy more items and have to pay more per item?
You can buy less energy
(1) if you raise your thermostat (meaning less heat flows into your home for your air conditioner to pump out) or
(2) if you insulate better (which also means less heat flows into your home for your air conditioner to pump out) or
(3) if you get a more efficient heat pump or air conditioner (which means it pumps out more heat per kilowatt-hour).
If you choose to do none of those, that is the same as deciding to buy more apples.
David for paying for what you buy
So what? Citigroup earned $4.43 Billion; Kraft made $1.88 Billion; and, GM made $865 Million.
The profit margin was about 12%, so the company only actually net profited about $6,000,000. Everything else was either paid to investors, operating costs, salaries, etc.
Don’t always look at the gross profits, look at the net and the percentage; that tells the tale.
The numbers sound a whole lot better if you say them another way. Folks 500 million is a lot of money. Look at your power bill, and the power you use is not that outrageous but the add ons are ridiculous. Fuel surcharges,franchise fees and other things of the like almost doubles your bill. We have none to blame but ourselves, a large portion of this problem could have been taken care of at the ballot box.
if they are making such great profit, why the increase? why not try to help out the communities who are struggling just to pay that outrageous power bill?! i mean people are losing their homes because of lack of jobs and here, we have over a half-million $ profit?
If folks use more of something at a set rate, they pay more.
In this case folks are paying for more kilowatt-hours of energy.
I wish I didn’t use so much but don’t feel like dying of a heat stroke either.
What amazes me is that in the economic times large industries and the government justify raising prices and profits. Why not make a profit but not a killing. Gulf Power is a monopoly so why does it need to do commercials and advertising? This cost is just passed to the users. Politicians raise fees and surcharges when people are struggling to survive. Its always right to do the right thing
I’m sure a lot of the profit is coming from the fuel surcharge that was increased fuel prices went through the roof, but have since went down with out the charge going down also.
Sounds like a lot of money but another Hurricane like Ivan can eat it up in a hurry.