BRITISH GAS reported a drop in half-year earnings at its household supply arm today, just days after announcing a major investment in a new nuclear power plant.

The Centrica-owned firm said that underlying earnings for its residential energy supply business fell to £133 million in the six months to June 30, down from £156m last year.

It said that the supply division took a £50m hit due to “unseasonably warm weather conditions,” with April marking the third warmest on record.

Centrica posted underlying earnings of £549m — nearly half of the £1.04 billion recorded a year earlier.

The results came days after the company confirmed a £1.3bn investment for a 15 per cent stake in the Sizewell C nuclear power station in Suffolk.

End Fuel Poverty Coalition co-ordinator Simon Francis said household energy bills “remain hundreds and hundreds of pounds higher than they were before the energy crisis started.”

He said that one reason was “our overreliance on gas from a North Sea that is running dry,” saying: “Just 14 per cent of all gas ever discovered is left in the basin and by 2050 we will be almost entirely reliant on imports.

“No wonder then that Centrica and Equinor recently agreed a deal that will put these firms at the heart of our energy security — delivering 10 per cent of our gas needs from Norwegian imports at prices linked to global markets.

“Yet some politicians are dangerously misleading the public by overstating the North Sea’s continuing role in UK energy security.”

He said a shift to “alternative methods of heating and cooking, powered by secure, homegrown renewable energy,” was urgently needed to “break the link with volatile fossil fuels and bring down bills for everyone for good.”