"Pension hike lifts NStar chief’s ’09 take to $7.4m" by Todd Wallack, Globe Staff | March 17, 2010
NStar chief executive Thomas J. May received a nearly 40 percent increase in compensation last year, partly because of an accounting change in the value of his pension, boosting his total take to $7.4 million for 2009, according to a recent securities filing.
May, who has run the electric and gas utility since 1999, received a $1.8 million bonus, 6 percent higher than in 2008, and $2.4 million in stock awards, up 25 percent from the prior period. Caroline Allen, spokeswoman for NStar, said May was awarded a one-time retention stock award in 2005 that fully vested in April 2009....
But (I gotta nickel, my name is Michael) the company noted that the bulk of the increase in May’s compensation was related to an accounting change and the bull market last year that boosted the value of his retirement benefits by $1.4 million.
Well, it was some kind of bull.
NStar said it was forced to increase the accounting cost of his pension because of a drop in interest rates. And May’s deferred compensation — money set aside in a trust — goes up and down with the stock market. Even without the boost in retirement pay, however, May’s pay would have increased by 12 percent.
How did you do this year, readers?
In the filing, NStar said its financial performance in 2009 “continued to be very strong despite the weak economy.’’
But a booming stock market, huh?
NStar’s operating revenue, which comes mostly from distributing electricity and gas, fell 5 percent to $3 billion last year. Its net income, however, rose 7 percent to $253 million....
Other NStar executives also received significant pay hikes.
For instance, NStar chief financial officer James J. Judge and general counsel Douglas S. Horan received 31 percent raises. Judge earned $2.5 million, while Horan earned $2.4 million. Most of the increase was due to the accounting change in the value of their pension benefits. But even with retirement benefits excluded, they received 9 percent raises.
Allen, the company spokeswoman, said the firm relied on a pay consultant, Towers Watson, and tried to offer compensation in the 50th percentile for urban utilities.
Think of them next time you open your bill.
I guess that is why RATES are GOING UP!
"NStar Green seeks rate hike; Premium for backing renewable energy would rise" by D.C. Denison, Globe Staff | March 6, 2010
About 8,000 NStar customers who pay a premium to ensure that a portion of their electricity is generated by wind could be hit with a rate hike that will increase their monthly bills by as much as 16 percent by next month.
What?!
Related: Cape Wind Clean Up
And the politicians think that is a victory, huh?
Higher energy prices for already enraged residents?
NStar this week informed users of its NStar Green program that it has applied for a rate increase for the service with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities because of rapidly changing energy prices. The program has attracted less than 1 percent of the company’s 1.1 million electricity customers since it started in July 2008.
And we have raises and bonuses to pay out.
NStar spokesman Michael Durand said yesterday that the increase “is beyond our control.’’
Pffft!
“We have to sell energy for what we pay for it,’’ he said. “This change is a way to reconcile the cost of the Green program with fluctuating energy prices.’’
Then I DON'T WANT IT!!!!!
The program, which enables customers to support electricity generated from renewable sources, offers the choice of having half or all of a customer’s electricity use support wind power for a premium....
Sue Reid, a senior attorney with the Conservation Law Foundation, said “We hope this won’t have a negative impact on the program. We hope people will continue to support this option,’’ she said.
Related:
"The Conservation Law Foundation, a New England-based environmental group, says it's not opposed to nuclear power"
The news angered at least one NStar customer.
I'm sure it angered more than that (or is that the only customer in the program?)
David Baeumler, a writer and filmmaker who lives in Jamaica Plain, has been paying “an extra five or six bucks a month’’ for more than a year for the utility’s green program. When Baeumler read that an average customer like him would be paying an additional $15 for the service in an e-mail from NStar earlier this week, it “felt like a slap in the face,’’ he said.
How much energy did that generate?
“It’s more than just the hit to my wallet,’’ Baeumler, 39, said yesterday. “What worries me is what effect this will have on everyone who felt concerned enough to sign up for the program.’’
The move comes just after NStar chief executive Thomas May in January told Globe editors and writers that the utility was “disappointed’’ that participation in the company’s Green program was not greater. “We thought it would do better,’’ he said.
That happens every time they try to force this higher-cost s*** down our throats.
Lori Bird, a senior analyst at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory who has studied green pricing, is not surprised at the level of participation in the NStar program. Of the 25 percent of the nation’s utilities that offer premium green programs, Bird said, most enroll about 2 percent of a company’s total customer base.
Meanwhile, John Rowe, chief executive of Exelon Corp., one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, and a former head of both the New England Electric System and Central Maine Power Co., said customers may continue to see premiums for renewable energy go up as the cost of traditional energy drops.
Then I will STICK with TRADITION!
“When they [utilities] charge a premium for wind power - lets say that’s the most economical - and natural gas is high, that premium can be really small,’’ he said. “But if gas goes down - and it’s gone down from $14 to $5 - that premium is actually big.’’
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