SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A Nashville, Tennessee resident looks at her energy bill and cutoff warning on September 6, 2022. (Photo: William DeShazer for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Utility CEOs See Soaring Pay as Families Struggle to Afford Energy Bills
"This goes beyond run-of-the-mill executive greed, and it's a stark example of rewarding failure," said one critic.
Oct 22, 2022
The top executives of utility giants in the United States are enjoying rising annual compensation as their customers in households across the country struggle to afford their high energy bills, with costs continuing to rise ahead of the winter months.
An analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings by Utility Dive found that the CEO of California-based Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)--the largest utility firm in the U.S.--received $51.2 million in total compensation in 2021, an increase of 640% compared to her previous year's pay.
"This goes beyond run-of-the-mill executive greed, and it's a stark example of rewarding failure," Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, said of Patricia Poppe's compensation in a statement Friday.
"It shows a complete disdain for the employees and the company's 16 million ratepayers, including the ones who are having to forgo necessities to keep the heat and lights on," Cook added.
EWG noted that Poppe's pay surge comes as her firm is "jacking up rates on its captive customers, in part to pay for the damage caused by last summer's disastrous Dixie Fire."
"PG&E customers have already seen their monthly bills soar by nearly 20% this year," the group said. "The utility is asking the California Public Utilities Commission to approve an 18% rate increase in 2023. If approved, the plan would impose an extra $31 on the average customer's energy bill next year, and $58 per month by 2026."
The Utility Dive analysis also found that CenterPoint Energy CEO "received a retention incentive agreement valued at $25.24 million" last year, "giving him the largest total compensation package among the medium-sized utilities."
"Even setting aside the CEOs at companies that experienced significant milestones or recent CEO changes, CEOs at many smaller utilities saw their total compensation increase in 2021 after dips in 2020," the analysis notes.
A growing number of U.S. households, meanwhile, are having difficulty affording their rising energy bills, particularly as the costs of other necessities such as food and housing simultaneously increase.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the country's residential price of electricity is set to be 8% higher this year compared to 2021. The U.S. Department of Energy expects heating bills to rise 28% this winter for the millions of households that rely on natural gas.
A report published last month by Bank of America found that nearly 20% of U.S. households have either missed or been late on a recent utility payment due to "financial difficulty."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The top executives of utility giants in the United States are enjoying rising annual compensation as their customers in households across the country struggle to afford their high energy bills, with costs continuing to rise ahead of the winter months.
An analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings by Utility Dive found that the CEO of California-based Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)--the largest utility firm in the U.S.--received $51.2 million in total compensation in 2021, an increase of 640% compared to her previous year's pay.
"This goes beyond run-of-the-mill executive greed, and it's a stark example of rewarding failure," Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, said of Patricia Poppe's compensation in a statement Friday.
"It shows a complete disdain for the employees and the company's 16 million ratepayers, including the ones who are having to forgo necessities to keep the heat and lights on," Cook added.
EWG noted that Poppe's pay surge comes as her firm is "jacking up rates on its captive customers, in part to pay for the damage caused by last summer's disastrous Dixie Fire."
"PG&E customers have already seen their monthly bills soar by nearly 20% this year," the group said. "The utility is asking the California Public Utilities Commission to approve an 18% rate increase in 2023. If approved, the plan would impose an extra $31 on the average customer's energy bill next year, and $58 per month by 2026."
The Utility Dive analysis also found that CenterPoint Energy CEO "received a retention incentive agreement valued at $25.24 million" last year, "giving him the largest total compensation package among the medium-sized utilities."
"Even setting aside the CEOs at companies that experienced significant milestones or recent CEO changes, CEOs at many smaller utilities saw their total compensation increase in 2021 after dips in 2020," the analysis notes.
A growing number of U.S. households, meanwhile, are having difficulty affording their rising energy bills, particularly as the costs of other necessities such as food and housing simultaneously increase.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the country's residential price of electricity is set to be 8% higher this year compared to 2021. The U.S. Department of Energy expects heating bills to rise 28% this winter for the millions of households that rely on natural gas.
A report published last month by Bank of America found that nearly 20% of U.S. households have either missed or been late on a recent utility payment due to "financial difficulty."
The top executives of utility giants in the United States are enjoying rising annual compensation as their customers in households across the country struggle to afford their high energy bills, with costs continuing to rise ahead of the winter months.
An analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission filings by Utility Dive found that the CEO of California-based Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E)--the largest utility firm in the U.S.--received $51.2 million in total compensation in 2021, an increase of 640% compared to her previous year's pay.
"This goes beyond run-of-the-mill executive greed, and it's a stark example of rewarding failure," Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, said of Patricia Poppe's compensation in a statement Friday.
"It shows a complete disdain for the employees and the company's 16 million ratepayers, including the ones who are having to forgo necessities to keep the heat and lights on," Cook added.
EWG noted that Poppe's pay surge comes as her firm is "jacking up rates on its captive customers, in part to pay for the damage caused by last summer's disastrous Dixie Fire."
"PG&E customers have already seen their monthly bills soar by nearly 20% this year," the group said. "The utility is asking the California Public Utilities Commission to approve an 18% rate increase in 2023. If approved, the plan would impose an extra $31 on the average customer's energy bill next year, and $58 per month by 2026."
The Utility Dive analysis also found that CenterPoint Energy CEO "received a retention incentive agreement valued at $25.24 million" last year, "giving him the largest total compensation package among the medium-sized utilities."
"Even setting aside the CEOs at companies that experienced significant milestones or recent CEO changes, CEOs at many smaller utilities saw their total compensation increase in 2021 after dips in 2020," the analysis notes.
A growing number of U.S. households, meanwhile, are having difficulty affording their rising energy bills, particularly as the costs of other necessities such as food and housing simultaneously increase.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates the country's residential price of electricity is set to be 8% higher this year compared to 2021. The U.S. Department of Energy expects heating bills to rise 28% this winter for the millions of households that rely on natural gas.
A report published last month by Bank of America found that nearly 20% of U.S. households have either missed or been late on a recent utility payment due to "financial difficulty."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.