State Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said the public backlash over bonuses to employees at insurance giant American International Group after it receiving government bailout money has heightened concerns about executive compensation.
"They [Constellation] don't understand what is happening on Capitol Hill. ... The public is outraged," he said. "This might have been OK in a different environment. ... It couldn't happen at a worse time."
But Gould called any comparison to AIG "flat out wrong and unwarranted."
"Not one dime of taxpayer money or BGE ratepayer dollars is involved," he said. "And, the only way people can earn this compensation is if they make a commitment to stay with our company and work hard."
Del. Brian K. McHale, a Baltimore Democrat, said the PSC should look into not only the employee payouts but also $20 million that EDF pledged to spend to build a visitor and environmental center at Calvert Cliffs and its $36 million contribution to the Constellation Energy Group Foundation.
"I would rather see them put that to rate relief," McHale said. "People are trying to figure out how to pay their utility bills, and they can't."
EDF officials would not comment yesterday.
Baltimore Sun writers Laura Smitherman and Julie Bykowicz contributed to this article.
sampling of reader responses
Columnist Jay Hancock and readers of baltimoresun.com reacted to news about senior managers of Constellation Energy Group being guaranteed up to $32 million in performance and retention incentives: * BGE parent Constellation Energy is not getting bailed out by taxpayers. That's a key difference between the payments ... for its managers and the bonuses being handed out to execs at AIG, Fannie Mae, etc. Nevertheless, the timing is not good in light of complaints over high BGE bills, Constellation's poor performance, its big payment to Warren Buffett, unhappiness over executive pay generally and deliberations in Annapolis about whether to re-regulate Maryland electricity.
Jay Hancock
* Government can solve this reprehensible inequality to consumers by regulating and converting industries to nonprofit status. The industries should include utilities, health care, housing and food.
NotableM
* I don't understand why a company can terminate 800 employees because of budget reasons, want to raise rates and then give executives, who really don't need the money, million dollar raises, when a fraction of that could probably rehire the 800 terminated employees that most likely do need the money. It's a shame how greed works.
