Utility cancels $130 million in worker performance bonuses

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Updated 5:07 pm CST, Saturday, February 23, 2019

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric said it won't award $130 million in employee bonuses because of its recent bankruptcy filing, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Interim chief executive John Simon cited California's deadly wildfires and the company's precarious financial state in an internal email message to workers on Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Senior leaders and the company's board of directors supported the decision, he said.

"The more I stepped back and thought about the impacts the wildfires have had on so many people outside our company, regardless of fault, the more I came to believe paying (performance bonuses) in 2018 was not the right thing to do," Simon said in the email.

The employee bonuses were for 2018 performance and were set to be announced next month. Some 14,000 employees were eligible.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/PG-E-cancels-130-million-worker-performance-13639692.php

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Interim chief executive John Simon

[bitterross]

1. That's the wrong place to save that money.

A utility of that size can find the $130 million in many other ways. That's a dick move.

[AllaN01Bear]

2. his salary should be reduced lower than the lowest janitor.

[PSPS]

3. I'll bet John's $3.2 million compensation won't be affected at all

[iluvtennis]

5. Nor the other senior executives. Bastards.

[kimbutgar]

4. But you can bet the executives will get bonuses.

The blowback will be enormous.

I need to pop some corn.

[Midnight Writer]

6. Couldn't they just rob the pension funds?

[Bradical79]

7. Will be interesting to see what his compensation was

For 2017:

As Executive Vice President and General Counsel, PG&E Corporation at PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC CO, John R. Simon made $3,211,504 in total compensation. Of this total $594,582 was received as a salary, $558,130 was received as a bonus, $0 was received in stock options, $2,000,079 was awarded as stock and $58,713 came from other types of compensation. This information is according to proxy statements filed for the 2017 fiscal year.

https://www1.salary.com/John-R-Simon-Salary-Bonus-Stock-Options-for-PACIFIC-GAS-ELECTRIC-CO.html

[The Truth Is Here]

8. I have a solution

Zero dollars for the CEO and the upper management. They fucked up.