Npower chief says profit plunge buries "myth" that energy companies are making a fortune In a statement, Mr Massara said the tough market conditions should bury the view politicians have that energy company's upstream business are profit making machines. He said: "I think this result blows apart the myth of 20% margins for power stations or the idea of windfall profits. RWE has a brand new £650 million power station at Staythorpe, one of the most modern and efficient in Europe, just two years old, and this year it's barely covering its costs. He added: "Britain desperately needs long-term cross party support for both the objectives and the delivery of this country's energy policy." Npower's residential supply business made £175 million over the first nine months, up £13 million or 8 per cent. The increase was fuelled by colder weather at the start of the year, though Npower said higher network costs and lower customer demand had affected performance since July. Earlier RWE warned its profits would be 15 per cent lower than expected this year because of lower wholesale prices and the fallout from the renewables boom in Germany. The job cuts will slash costs by £840 million by 2016. Peter Terium, RWE chief executive, said: "We will step our efficiency measures significantly. By 2017 this will contribute an additional 1bn euros of savings. RWE, which ruled out talk Npower was up for sale, said it had to cut back because "many power plants are no longer able to cover their costs due to a decline in forward prices." On Wednesday both E.ON and GDF-Suez in France both warned that wholesale power prices were plunging. Yet suppliers in the UK have this winter blamed rising wholesale prices as one of the reasons for another round of inflation-busting increases in gas and electricity bills. RWE and its German rival E.ON have both been hit by Germany's decision to turn its back on nuclear power and place far more emphasis on renewables such as coal and gas. The renewables boom has cut the hours conventional power stations in Germany can run. In February this year, RWE warned it would scale back investment in the UK unless the Government provided "desperately needed" certainty over energy policy.