Enmax bosses’ pay, bonuses justified: Nenshi
CALGARY Mayor Naheed Nenshi defended seven-figure bonuses handed out to Enmax Corp. executives last year, contending the cityowned utility has to compete with the private sector in attracting and retaining top talent.
Documents show Enmax paid CEO Gianna Manes more than $2.2 million in salary and benefits in 2015, up from $1.9 million a year earlier. The company’s four vicepresidents each received more than $1.1 million compensation last year, including David Rehn, who was paid nearly $2.4 million including a $1.1-million bonus.
Rehn’s “very big ” bonus was contingent on successfully delivering Enmax’s $1.4-billion natural gaspowered Shepard Energy Centre plant on time and on budget, Nenshi told reporters Wednesday.
“Less than 0.1 per cent of the project cost as a bonus to save against a one, two, five, 10 per cent overrun I think is a pretty good investment,” he said.
“Remember that Enmax runs as an entrepreneurial organization,” Nenshi said. “No one at the City of Calgary gets bonuses like that. But there is a reason that Enmax has to compete against other utilities in the private sector.”
Executive and board compensation at the city utility was “very high” and “frankly, a bit out of control,” several years ago but has since been reined in, Nenshi added.
“Certainly, I’m not telling you that when I was first elected we didn’t see the very worst excesses of the private sector at Enmax,” Nenshi said.
“I don’t believe those are there anymore.”
In 2009, then-CEO Gary Holden was paid $2.7 million in salary and bonuses in addition to his company car and driver, while former board chairman Cliff Fryers took home $180,000 for the part-time post.
Holden resigned in 2011 amid controversy around his salary and bonuses, lavish rock-star parties and a client-paid trip to Monaco in 2008. Holden walked away with a $4.6-million severance package.
Later that year, the embattled corporation slashed executive pay by 20 per cent.
“People thought that was a crazy thing to do, everyone was going to quit, and we wouldn’t be able to attract new talent,” Nenshi said. “In fact, the opposite happened. People stayed, we were able to attract terrific board members and terrific managers.”
Coun. Peter Demong, one of two councillors on the Enmax board, echoed Nenshi in that the cityowned utility has to offer healthy incentives to attract top-tier talent.
“One million dollars, that’s a lot of money for a bonus, (but) you have to keep that in balance with what are the consequences if there is an overrun,” Demong said.
“There are a number of projects in the history of Calgary that I’m kind of wishing maybe we had done a bonus structure on those lines to have saved many, many millions of dollars.”