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Private utilities boost CEO pay as TVA pressured to lower it

Chris Womack, board chair, president and CEO of Southern Company, was the nation's second-highest paid private utility company chief executive for 2025 at $28.2 million. (AP File Photo/Mike Stewart) Chris Womack, board chair, president and CEO of Southern Company, was the nation's second-highest paid private utility company chief executive for 2025 at $28.2 million. (AP File Photo/Mike Stewart)

By Daniel Dassow April 22, 2026 5 min read

Private, investor-owned utility companies increased compensation for their CEOs in 2025, with the top 10 highest-paid executives together earning more than $220 million, according to a report from a nonprofit watchdog group.

The analysis by the Energy and Policy Institute, a clean energy advocacy group, included 51 utilities with an average CEO compensation of $12.3 million. The average CEO pay increased nearly 16% over 2024, the report said. Twenty-seven utility CEOs got a pay bump of more than $1 million.

The report comes as the White House has placed pressure on the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest government-owned utility, to drastically reduce CEO pay.

TVA CEO Don Moul was set to earn around $6 million this year in salary, incentives and performance-based payouts. Moul informed the TVA board of directors in early April that he will retire July 1.