A call for the Public Service Commission to keep ratepayers off the hook, for compensation paid to utility executives. Charlie Higley with the Citizens Utility Board says up until now, the state Public Service Commission has protected ratepayers from paying for executive bonuses and compensation. “The problem is, the commission is putting together some rules on the way utilities can cover costs for making electricity, and there appears to be some loopholes in these rules that would allow utilities to charge ratepayers for the bonuses and incentive compensation.”
Higley says the PSC needs to rework the proposed rules to prevent that from happening. “If these rules went forward as currently drafted, utilities would not only be able keep profits higher than authorized, they would also be able charge ratepayers for bonuses that are staggering in size, and that right now are not charged to ratepayers.” Higley notes that compensation given to the five highest paid executives at four utilities in 2009 was $44 million, on top of salaries of $10 million.