Then for power companies we wouldn't expect them to make high profits during periods of high energy prices (they're just passing on the higher cost of fuel to t

Then for power companies we wouldn't expect them to make high profits during periods of high energy prices (they're just passing on the higher cost of fuel to the consume) - sort of defeating the OP's point. For fossil fuel companies, their costs of exploration and development remained the same during the pandemic, forcing them to eat the losses - https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/02/bp-loss-covid-19-oil-demand#:~:text=The%20oil%20company%20reported%20an,the%20global%20market%20to%20tumble https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/02/bp-loss-cov....