Hydro One execs pull in $11 million
PCs criticize ‘astronomical’ combined salaries of utility’s five-member corporate team
The five-member executive team at Hydro One shared more than $11million in compensation last year, a number the Progressive Conservatives are calling “astronomical.”
But the utility points out that the executives cut costs by more than $25 million.
The salary details were released in the partially privatized company’s annual information form, detailing $4.84 million in cash and incentives last year for chief executive officer Mayo Schmidt.
In total, the top five executives hired from companies such as Maple Leaf Foods, Westjet and Pacific Gas & Electric shared more than $11 million. Schmidt’s base salary was un- changed at $850,000.
“At a time when Ontario ratepayers are hurting, this kind of compensation is not only undeserving, it’s a slap in the face,” said Conservative MPP Todd Smith, his party’s energy critic. “In a year where tens of thousands of Hydro One customers were disconnected and hundreds of thousands were found to be in arrears because of uncontrolled hydro prices, executive salaries . . . hit astronomical new highs.”
With Hydro One no longer subject to salary disclosure on the annual “sunshine list” of public sector workers earning more than $100,000 — due out later this week — Smith said taxpayers now have no way of knowing how big the “millionaire’s club” at the company has become.
Salaries of a publicly traded company’s top five executives must be made public under Ontario securities laws.
Energy Minister Glenn Thibeault defended the pay packages and the partial privatization of Hydro One, in which the government has sold 30 per cent of its shares with another 30 per cent to go. The sale is aimed at raising $9 billion to fund infrastructure and reduce hydro debt. “It’s a publicly traded company now, so the shareholders in this will have to judge where they see the CEO taking the company,” Thibeault said.
Ontarians who have been “scraping by” to pay their hydro bills will get relief this summer when the bulk of a promised 25 per cent rate cut kicks in, Thibeault said. The province has already waived its 8-per-cent share of the HST on electricity bills.
In the information form, Hydro One said Schmidt made “significant progress” to making the utility more customer-oriented, saving $1.8 million on billing improvements, answering 78 per cent of customer calls within 30 seconds and reducing overdue billings by 21 per cent or $31 million.