Lynn Good, CEO of Duke Energy Corporation, got a raise one year after the country's largest electric company faced a coal ash spill, coating 70 miles of a North Carolina river with dirty oils containing poisonous metal.
Good's yearly salary raise of between $50,000 to more than $1.2 million has been approved by Duke Energy's board of directors, The Salt Lake Tribune has learned. However, that's only a guaranteed part of her package.
The company said in a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission that her potential annual compensation — with incentives — could go as high as $10.5 million. The company added that the board was pleased with her performance and leadership, hence, the salary increase.
The company disclosed that Good's pay was lowered to $600,000 in 2014, when the spill happened, according to The Washington Post. The estimated cost for the clean-up, legal fees and criminal case fine settlement was $192 million.
Duke Energy made it clear that the salary reduction that happened a year ago was not a factor in the board's decision to increase Good's remuneration.
Breaking down the expenses, the company said about $20 million was spent in cleaning up Dan River in February 2014, when a pipe under a coal ash pit broke. Additional $70 million went to engineering, legal, consulting and other expenses following the incident, reported The Christian Science Monitor.
The company will also have to pay a fine of $102 million to settle the supposed Clear Water Act violation, after pleading guilty. The settlement cost, approved by the federal judge, will be carried by the shareholders and not by the consumers.
A state law that was submitted last year requires the company to remove all the coal ash dumps by 2029. This is an added cost to the company, and, this time, it will be added to power bills though the amount has yet to be confirmed.
Duke Energy caters North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Florida and Indiana, with more than 7 million customers.
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