Image Credit: tva.com
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
The Tennessee Valley Authority is reducing the incentive pay given to its CEO, cutting back on the amount of payout given to the highest paid federal employee in the country.
TVA President Jeff Lyash, who has been with the company since 2019, has a $1.227 million base salary, following a $74,750 raise in 2023. In addition to this, Lyash is given a compensation package that totaled $10.5 million last year.
According to the TVA Act, employees must receive compensation that is similar to that of others who work for private sector utilities. Pay consultants have stated that Lyash’s payouts actually fall about 29% below those of other utility CEOs.
TVA directors voted on Thursday to lower that pay package, making them the first board to reduce those amounts in almost 20 years. The decision was made to lower the multiplier used to determine performance pay from 200% of Lyash’s salary to 150%. This payout is given if all of the company’s goals regarding power reliability, cost, cleanliness, safety, and economic development are met.
If this lower level had been in place for 2023, Lyash would have received $275,000 less than he was actually paid.
Former President Donald Trump tried to convince the board back in 2020 to lower the compensation package, but then Chair John Ryder said, “we came to the conclusion that the compensation system that we have is what is required by the TVA Act.”
When asked what he thought about the possibility that his pay may be cut, Lyash said he would leave that to the board to decide.
“It’s not appropriate for me to comment except to say that I think it’s entirely appropriate for this board every few years to review its compensation program and to make adjustments that they feel are appropriate,” Lyash said.
Thursday’s meeting followed a public feedback meeting held on Wednesday, where climate activists from across the state rolled in to push for TVA to stop using fossil fuels and work with renewable energy sources instead.
