Two House members from opposite parties are teaming up on legislation that would bar electric utility executives from collecting bonuses in years when their companies raise rates faster than inflation.
Rep. Josh Riley, a Democrat representing New York’s 19th District, and Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey Republican, introduced the No Bonuses for Utility Executives Act on Wednesday. The bill responds to mounting frustration across Upstate New York and other regions where families are facing higher monthly electric bills while the parent companies of local utilities report strong profits and multimillion-dollar executive payouts.
Riley said the proposal is aimed at restoring basic fairness in a system where customers face rising costs while corporate leaders “walk off with massive bonuses.”
“Upstate New Yorkers are getting crushed by high utility bills,” Riley said in a statement. “When the people footing the bill get squeezed and the folks at the top walk off with massive bonuses, something’s seriously broken — and I’m fighting to fix it.”
Van Drew echoed that message, saying the bill is meant to force utilities to consider their ratepayers before requesting increases.
“People are getting hit with higher and higher utility bills, and they are tired of seeing executives get big bonuses while they struggle to pay,” Van Drew said. “In no world should executives be getting big bonuses if they are raising rates faster than inflation.”
The proposal arrives as electric customers across Upstate New York continue to report sustained price pressures. Two major utility holding companies — Fortis, which owns Central Hudson, and Avangrid, which owns NYSEG and RG&E — paid their chief executives $10.6 million and $10.7 million last year, respectively. Both utilities have sought rate increases in recent years while acknowledging service and reliability challenges.
What would the bill do?
The No Bonuses for Utility Executives Act lays out several conditions and enforcement mechanisms:
• Prohibits bonuses in high-rate years: If a utility raises customer rates faster than the annual inflation rate, executives are barred from receiving bonuses of any kind for that fiscal year.
• Caps bonuses when rates stay level with inflation: In years when rate increases remain at or below inflation, executive bonuses are capped at 25 percent of the median compensation of non-executive employees.
• Requires mandatory reporting and federal oversight: Utilities must report rate-increase data and median non-executive pay to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission within one week of the end of their fiscal year. FERC then has one month to determine whether bonuses are allowed and to set the maximum amount.
• Penalizes violations: If a utility violates the rules, its entire executive bonus pool is forfeited to the IRS. The IRS must then redistribute those funds directly to customers as a stimulus payment.
• Covers foreign-owned, state-regulated utilities: The measure applies to state-regulated electric utilities not wholly owned by U.S. persons and would take effect for fiscal years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2025.
Riley said the bill builds on his earlier Keep the Lights Local Act, which focuses on lowering utility costs and increasing accountability for foreign-owned utility monopolies.
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