Business & Tech

Under State Pressure, Con Ed Execs Return Bonuses

Execs cave after Gov. Andrew Cuomo calls for investigation.

This article was written by C. Zawadi Morris.

Con Edison CEO Kevin Burke and three other senior executives agreed to return bonuses paid to them in wake of Superstorm Sandy after Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for the state to investigate the bonuses and the utility company’s performance during Sanday, reported the Wall Street Journal

Burke will be returning his $315,000 bonus, which would have brought his total compensation for the year to $7.4 million.  

Burke, along with thee other executives decided to award themselves bonuses totaling $614,000 “for the significant challenges” they faced and overcame in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, “the most destructive storm in the history of the Company’s service area,” the company said in papers which surfaced last week.  

However, on Monday, Cuomo sent a letter to Burke, saying the utility company had in fact failed to provide adequate service during Sandy and left hundreds of thousands of customers powerless for days after the storm.

He asked the utility executive to freeze his and his colleague’s bonuses, and then went on to appoint a panel to investigate the companies' preparation for and performance during storms over the past two years, including Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee.

"After careful consideration, I have decided to return the special bonus granted by our compensation committee, and funded by shareholders, for handling very challenging events in 2012," Burke said in a statement shortly after. "I continue to commend the work of all of our employees."


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