Riley Introduces Bill to Limit Utility Executive Pay Bonuses
By ERIC SANTOMAURO-STENZEL
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Rep. Josh Riley, a Democrat representing upstate New York including Otsego County, has paired up with Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey to introduce legislation that would set new restrictions on pay bonuses for utility company CEOs.
The brief bill, titled the “No Bonuses for Utility Executives Act,” would prohibit utility company executives from receiving bonuses when rates rise faster than inflation. It would also require that, when rates remain stable in a given year, bonuses cannot exceed 25 percent of the median compensation earned by non-executive employees. To assess this, the bill would require utility companies to submit wage and rate cost information to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission every fiscal year.
“We have folks across upstate New York who are getting crushed with the NYSEG bill,” Riley told AllOtsego in an interview. “I’ve talked to parents who have to cut back on the Christmas presents this year because they can barely keep things together with these rising utility costs. And meanwhile, while we’re getting crushed, the corporate executives in Spain who own NYSEG are getting rich.
