The Tennessee Valley Authority is raising the pay of its chief executive, who is already the highest paid federal employee in America.
TVA directors voted Thursday to boost the $995,000 base salary of TVA President Bill Johnson by 5.5 percent and add up to $100,000 more to his performance pay after the federal utility achieved nearly all of its corporate goals in the past year and cut its carbon emissions, injury rate and employee count to record lows.
“We think Bill Johnson is one of the best executives in the utility industry and we feel very fortunate that we have him,” TVA Chairman Richard Howorth said after the board voted unanimously to boost Johnson’s pay package. “He could make more somewhere else.”
Howorth said the salary and bonus increases for Johnson reflect his “outstanding performance” and the TVA act requirement to pay employees of TVA competitive wages.
TVA achievements in 2017
› Rates: Electricity prices, including fuel cost adjustments are expected to be 2 percent lower than five years ago.› Cost cutting: TVA has cut annual operating costs by $800 million, in part, by phasing out more than 2,000 jobs and shutting down aging coal plants.› Power upgrades: Started Watts Bar Unit 2 in Spring City, Tenn., as the first new American reactor added to the grid in over two decades; finished Paradise combined cycle gas plant in Kentucky; regulatory approval for 14 percent powe upgrade at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant, and installed 1 megawatt solar farm and started pre-operational testing at the Allen combined cycle gas plant in Memphis.› Environment: Cut carbon emissions by 40 percent since 2005 and is on pace for a 60 percent reduction by 2020› Financing: Paid down debt by nearly $200 million and pumped another $800 million into underfunded employee pension fund› Safety: Achieved the lowest injury rate since keeping such figures in 1995› Reliability: Delivered electricity 99.999 percent of the time for the 18th consecutive yearSource: Tennessee Valley Authority