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Table of Contents

Highest Paid Utility Executives

By
Mike Colagrossi
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Mike Colagrossi is the founder of Colagrossi Media and a financial writer with 4+ years of experience. He is also a contributor to Investopedia.
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Updated February 28, 2022
Reviewed by
Khadija Khartit
Khadija Khartit
Reviewed by Khadija Khartit
Full Bio
Khadija Khartit is a strategy, investment, and funding expert, and an educator of fintech and strategic finance in top universities. She has been an investor, entrepreneur, and advisor for more than 25 years. She is a FINRA Series 7, 63, and 66 license holder.
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The utilities sector is an essential aspect of any healthy economy. The equities included in this industry range from gas and electric companies to transmission providers. Essentially, it comes down to the companies that support the very infrastructure of any modern civilization. 

Leaders of utilities are some of the highest paid, and many of these executives have been working for decades for their respective companies. Here are some of the highest-paid executives in the utilities sector as of 2019.

Key Takeaways

  • Executives in this industry earn a base pay of $1~2 million.
  • They can earn additional annual incentive pay and long-term incentive pay that adds another $10 million or so to their pay package.
  • NextEra Energy CEO James Robo is one of the highest-paid in the industry, pulling in $21.87 million in compensation. 

Thomas F. Farrell II

Thomas F. Farrell II is the president, chair and CEO of Dominion Energy (D), positions which he has held since April 2007. He joined Dominion as a company director in 2005. Farrell is one of the highest-paid executives in the utilities sector. In 2019, he earned $2.56 million in pay, which includes $1.55 million in base salary plus annual incentive pay. He also received another $11.48 million in long-term incentive pay, bringing his total compensation for the year to about $14.05 million. In addition, Farrell holds 996,316 common shares of Dominion Energy and 224,226 restricted shares.

Dominion Energy is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, and supplies energy to more than seven million customers in 20 states. In July 2020, it sold its gas transmission and storage business to Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) in a deal valued at $9.7 billion.

Christopher Crane

Christopher Crane is the president and CEO of Exelon (EXC). He has been a director at the company since 2012 and was president chief operating officer of Exelon and Exelon Generation from 2008 through 2012. In 2019, Crane received $15.44 million in compensation. This consisted of $1.34 million in base salary, $11 million in stock awards and the remainder coming other forms of compensation. He owns 1.04 million shares of the company. His retirement package was worth $34 million at the end of 2019.

Exelon is headquartered in Chicago. It has operations in 48 states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Crane joined the company in 1998, when it was ComEd, and became chief nuclear officer in 2004.

James Robo

James Robo is the president, chief executive and chair of NextEra Energy (NEE). He has been president and CEO since July 2012, and was appointed chair in December 2013. In 2019, Robo received $21.87 million in compensation. This included a base salary of $1.45 million, stock awards of $11.74 million, option awards of $2.83 million, non-equity incentive pay of $4.6 million, and other forms of compensation. He owns approximately 1 million shares of the company.

NextEra Energy is headquartered in Juno Beach, Fla. The company owns two electric companies in Florida, wind and solar businesses, and eight nuclear power plants in Florida, New Hampshire, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Nicholas Akins

Nicholas Akins is president, chief executive and chair of American Electric Power (AEP). Akins was an executive vice president from 2006 to 2011, when he became CEO. He was named chair in 2014. In 2019, Akins earned $14.5 million in total compensation. Of this, $1.48 million was base salary, $8.8 million was stock awards, $3.6 million was non-equity incentive pay and the remainder came from other forms of compensation.

American Electric Power serves more than five million retail customers in Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.

Article Sources
Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in our editorial policy.

  1. NextEra Energy. "Notice of 2020 Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement," Pages 12, 25, and 64.

  2. Dominion Energy. "2019 Proxy Statement," Pages 5, 11, 31, and 45-46.

  3. Dominion Energy. "Our Vision: Building a Clean and Sustainable Energy Future."

  4. Dominion Energy. "Dominion Energy Agrees to Sell Gas Transmission, Storage Assets to Berkshire Hathaway Energy."

  5. Exelon. "Notice of the Annual Meeting and 2020 Proxy Statement," Pages 18, 55, 65, and 75.

  6. Exelon. "Chris M. Crane."

  7. NextEra Energy. "Company Overview."

  8. American Electric Power. "Notice of 2020 Annual Meeting, Proxy Statement," Pages 4, 43, and 48.

  9. American Electric Power. "2019 Annual Report," Page 2.

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