Britain today · Energy

Energy bills, and who owns Britain’s energy companies

What the price cap really caps, which part of the system each pound in a bill is allowed for, and who controls the nine companies that supply, generate and move Britain’s energy — taken from Ofgem’s own cost model and the Companies House register, including the places where the register does not answer the question.

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Where the cap stands now

What the price cap is, and is not

The cap limits the unit rate and standing charge a supplier can charge on a default tariff. It is not a maximum bill: a household that uses more energy pays more. The headline £ figure is what a household with Ofgem's assumed typical consumption would pay — a benchmark, not a prediction of your bill. Figures here are Direct Debit, Great Britain average; Northern Ireland has a separate regime, and prepayment and standard credit are capped at different levels.

£1,723

Typical annual dual-fuel bill, Oct–Dec 2026

was £1,663 in Jul–Sep 2026

26.32p/kWh

Electricity unit rate

54.83p/day

Electricity standing charge

7.97p/kWh

Gas unit rate

29.68p/day

Gas standing charge

Energy price cap — typical dual-fuel bill (direct debit)

The cap more than trebled between 2021 and its January 2023 peak, then fell back. At £1,723 it remains far above where it sat before the 2022 gas shock.

View data table
Energy price cap — typical dual-fuel bill (direct debit) — Great Britain. Source: Ofgem, Default tariff cap (energy price cap) — Annex 9, Levelisation allowance methodology and levelised cap levels. Oct–Dec 2026.
YearEnergy price cap — typical dual-fuel bill (direct debit)
2019979.42
2020898.69
20211092.57
20222972.34
20231641.47
20241543.34
20251576.21
20261723.36

Great Britain · Source: Ofgem, Default tariff cap (energy price cap) — Annex 9, Levelisation allowance methodology and levelised cap levels · series 1c Consumption adjusted levels — Other Payment Method, Dual fuel (implied), Typical consumption, 'Total inc VAT' · as of Oct–Dec 2026

Which part of the system gets the money

Ofgem publishes the cap as a set of named cost allowances. These are what the cap is built from — the amounts Ofgem judges an efficient supplier needs to recover — not a record of where money actually ended up. Wholesale energy is the largest single component and the one that moved most in the energy crisis.

Component£ per yearShare of the bill
Wholesale energy£773.9844.9%
Network costs£417.3424.2%
Supplier operating costs£203.9411.8%
Policy costs£96.395.6%
Debt-related costs£51.793.0%
VAT£41.202.4%
Supplier profit allowance (EBIT)£45.722.7%
Headroom£18.131.1%

Oct–Dec 2026, Direct Debit, GB average. Source: Ofgem, default tariff cap levels (Annex 9). The components shown are the largest; Ofgem publishes fifteen in total, and they do not sum to exactly the headline because of rounding in Ofgem's own tables. A supplier's allowed profit (EBIT) is a modelled allowance, not a measure of what any supplier actually earned — see the note on company financials at the end of this page.

Every company number, name, status and ownership relationship below was read from the live Companies House register on 28 August 2026. Nothing here is inferred: where the register is silent about who controls a company, this page says so rather than filling the gap. This page does not show company profits or executive pay — see the note at the end for why those are a genuinely harder problem than ownership.

Three different kinds of company, often described as one

"British energy companies" covers three legally distinct things. A UK-listed plc, a UK subsidiary whose parent sits abroad, and a privately-held UK company are owned, regulated and disclosed differently — and the register tells you very different amounts about each.

UK-listed plc

4

Centrica / British Gas, SSE, Drax, National Grid

UK subsidiary of a foreign parent

3

EDF (UK), E.ON UK, ScottishPower (Iberdrola)

UK private company

2

OVO Energy, Octopus Energy

Company by company

Centrica / British Gas

No controlling party on the register

UK-listed plc · Supplier · Generator · Vertically integrated

CENTRICA PLC

Company 03033654 · active · incorporated March 1995

Other entities in the group

  • BRITISH GAS TRADING LIMITED (03078711) — Licensed retail supply company (British Gas)
  • GB GAS HOLDINGS LIMITED (03186121) — Intermediate holding company
  • CENTRICA HOLDINGS LIMITED (05625463) — Intermediate holding company

The register does not say — Companies whose voting shares are admitted to trading on a UK regulated market are outside the Part 21A PSC regime. Their large shareholders are disclosed through DTR 5 major-shareholding notifications, not through Companies House. An empty PSC register for a listed plc therefore means "the regime does not apply", not "nobody owns it" — and the two must never be reported the same way.

EDF (UK)

No controlling party on the register

UK subsidiary of a foreign parent · Supplier · Generator · Vertically integrated

EDF ENERGY HOLDINGS LIMITED

Company 06930266 · active · incorporated June 2009

Other entities in the group

  • EDF ENERGY CUSTOMERS LIMITED (02228297) — Licensed retail supply company
  • EDF ENERGY LIMITED (02366852) — Intermediate holding company
  • EDF ENERGY NUCLEAR GENERATION LIMITED (03076445) — Nuclear generation company
  • EDF ENERGY (UK) LIMITED (02622406) — Top UK holding company (chain terminus)

Who controls it, as the register states

  • EDF ENERGY (UK) LIMITED (02622406) — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights; can appoint and remove directors

E.ON UK

Controlling parent named on the register

UK subsidiary of a foreign parent · Supplier · Generator

E.ON UK LIMITED

Company 02366970 · active · incorporated April 1989

Other entities in the group

  • E.ON NEXT ENERGY LIMITED (03782443) — Licensed retail supply company (E.ON Next)
  • E.ON UK HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED (01313782) — Top UK holding company

Who controls it, as the register states

  • E.ON UK HOLDING COMPANY LIMITED (01313782) — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights
  • E.On Se — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights

OVO Energy

Parties named, none at controlling level

UK private company · Supplier

OVO GROUP LTD

Company 10722770 · active · incorporated April 2017

Other entities in the group

  • OVO ENERGY LTD (06890795) — Licensed retail supply company
  • ENERGY TRANSITION FINANCE LTD (10722665) — Intermediate holding company (formerly OVO Holdings Ltd)
  • ENERGY TRANSITION GROUP LTD (08862063) — Intermediate holding company (formerly OVO Group Ltd)
  • ENERGY TRANSITION HOLDINGS LTD (14443869) — Top UK holding company (chain terminus)

Who controls it, as the register states

  • ENERGY TRANSITION FINANCE LTD (10722665) — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights; can appoint and remove directors
  • ENERGY TRANSITION GROUP LTD (08862063) — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights; can appoint and remove directors
  • ENERGY TRANSITION HOLDINGS LTD (14443869) — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights
  • Mr Stephen Fitzpatrick — owns 25–50% of shares; holds 25–50% of voting rights

Octopus Energy

No controlling party on the register

UK private company · Supplier · Generator

OCTOPUS ENERGY GROUP LIMITED

Company 09718624 · active · incorporated August 2015

Other entities in the group

  • OCTOPUS ENERGY LIMITED (09263424) — Licensed retail supply company
  • OCTOPUS ENERGY TOPCO LIMITED (16982052) — Intermediate holding company (inserted above the group in 2026)
  • OCTOPUS ENERGY HOLDCO LIMITED (09718990) — Intermediate holding company
  • OE HOLDCO LTD (14005495) — Top UK holding company (chain terminus)

Who controls it, as the register states

  • OCTOPUS ENERGY TOPCO LIMITED (16982052) — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights; can appoint and remove directors
  • OCTOPUS ENERGY HOLDCO LIMITED (09718990) — owns 25–50% of shares; holds 25–50% of voting rights
  • OE HOLDCO LTD (14005495) — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights; can appoint and remove directors

ScottishPower (Iberdrola)

Controlling parent named on the register

UK subsidiary of a foreign parent · Supplier · Generator · Network operator · Vertically integrated

SCOTTISH POWER LIMITED

Company SC193794 · active · incorporated February 1999 · registered in Scotland

Other entities in the group

  • SCOTTISHPOWER ENERGY RETAIL LIMITED (SC190287) — Licensed retail supply company
  • SPW INVESTMENTS LIMITED (SC473190) — Top UK holding company (formerly Iberdrola UK Limited)

Who controls it, as the register states

  • SPW INVESTMENTS LIMITED (SC473190) — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights; can appoint and remove directors
  • Iberdrola Sa — owns 75–100% of shares; holds 75–100% of voting rights; can appoint and remove directors

SSE

No controlling party on the register

UK-listed plc · Generator · Network operator

SSE PLC

Company SC117119 · active · incorporated April 1989 · registered in Scotland

Other entities in the group

  • SSE ENERGY SUPPLY LIMITED (03757502) — Electricity supply company; SSE plc is its active PSC

The register does not say — Companies whose voting shares are admitted to trading on a UK regulated market are outside the Part 21A PSC regime. Their large shareholders are disclosed through DTR 5 major-shareholding notifications, not through Companies House. An empty PSC register for a listed plc therefore means "the regime does not apply", not "nobody owns it" — and the two must never be reported the same way.

Drax

No controlling party on the register

UK-listed plc · Generator

DRAX GROUP PLC

Company 05562053 · active · incorporated September 2005

The register does not say — Companies whose voting shares are admitted to trading on a UK regulated market are outside the Part 21A PSC regime. Their large shareholders are disclosed through DTR 5 major-shareholding notifications, not through Companies House. An empty PSC register for a listed plc therefore means "the regime does not apply", not "nobody owns it" — and the two must never be reported the same way.

National Grid

No controlling party on the register

UK-listed plc · Network operator

NATIONAL GRID PLC

Company 04031152 · active · incorporated July 2000

Other entities in the group

  • NATIONAL GRID ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION PLC (02366977) — Electricity transmission licensee (England & Wales)
  • NATIONAL GRID ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION PLC (09223384) — Electricity distribution licensee

The register does not say — Companies whose voting shares are admitted to trading on a UK regulated market are outside the Part 21A PSC regime. Their large shareholders are disclosed through DTR 5 major-shareholding notifications, not through Companies House. An empty PSC register for a listed plc therefore means "the regime does not apply", not "nobody owns it" — and the two must never be reported the same way.

Why the register goes quiet in three different ways

An empty ownership record does not mean nobody owns the company. It means one of these applies — and they are not the same thing, so this page keeps them apart rather than showing every gap as "unknown".

Listed companies are exempt by law

Companies whose voting shares are admitted to trading on a UK regulated market are outside the Part 21A PSC regime. Their large shareholders are disclosed through DTR 5 major-shareholding notifications, not through Companies House. An empty PSC register for a listed plc therefore means "the regime does not apply", not "nobody owns it" — and the two must never be reported the same way.

A foreign parent can sit outside the UK register entirely

The UK PSC register does not connect EDF’s UK group to Électricité de France SA or to the French state. EDF Energy (UK) Limited (02622406) has filed a formal "no individual or entity with significant control" statement, and the chain ends there. Any claim about French state ownership must be sourced elsewhere and must not be attributed to Companies House.

Some questions the register simply does not settle

SSE Energy Supply Limited (03757502) remains an SSE plc subsidiary on the PSC register, despite SSE’s 2020 sale of its household supply business to OVO. This dataset places it where the register does — under SSE — and makes no claim about which entities that transaction moved. Whether SSE still supplies households must be sourced from Ofgem’s licensee register or SSE’s own reporting, not from Companies House.

What the listed companies actually report

Read these as group figures, not UK figures

These are group-worldwide results — everything the company does everywhere, not its UK energy business. They are the statutoryfigures from the audited accounts, not the "adjusted" or "underlying" numbers companies tend to headline, which can differ substantially. Centrica's 2025 revenue is a good example: the statutory figure is £19.5bn, while the adjusted figure presented alongside it is £22.4bn. Year ends differ too — Centrica and Drax report to December, National Grid and SSE to March — so a single year label does not mean the same twelve months.

CompanyYearRevenueOperating profitProfit before tax
Centrica (British Gas)2025£19.5bn£0.1bn£0.1bn
National Grid2025/26£17.7bn£5.4bn£4.2bn
SSE2025/26£10.2bn£1.9bn£1.8bn
Drax Group2025£5.4bn£0.2bn£0.2bn

Statutory group results from each company's audited annual report, retrieved as machine-tagged filings from the FCA's National Storage Mechanism. Audited accounts filed under a legal duty, but a company reporting on itself — not an official statistic. Where a company later restated a comparative, this site keeps the figure as first reported and records the restatement alongside it rather than substituting silently.

Why only four companies, and no executive pay

Statutory group financials are published for the four UK-listed groups (Centrica, National Grid, SSE, Drax), because UK-listed issuers must file machine-tagged annual reports. They are GROUP-WORLDWIDE figures, not UK figures — a group revenue line includes everything the company does everywhere. The other five have no equivalent: E.ON UK, EDF’s UK group, ScottishPower, Octopus and OVO are not UK-listed issuers and file nothing comparable, and they never will under this regime. Iberdrola publishes a UK column, but in euros on a Spanish group basis; Ofgem’s segmental statements are UK-scope and in sterling but arrive as dozens of supplier-hosted PDFs. So there is no single basis on which all nine can be compared, and none is asserted here.

Executive pay is not shown at all.Remuneration sits in a report section that is published as formatted text rather than tagged figures, so it cannot be extracted reliably or kept current. The Companies House register lists directors' names and roles but carries no pay data whatsoever. Publishing a total that mixes salary, bonus, share awards and pension differently between companies — or that confuses an accounting value with cash actually received — would be worse than publishing nothing.

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