Constellation Energy Group reported Wednesday that Chief Executive Officer Mayo A. Shattuck III's total compensation for 2008 was $15.7 million, an increase from a year earlier attributed largely to changes in the accounting value of his pension.
But company officials argued that a more precise value of last year's compensation shows Shattuck earned about $7.8 million, half of what he did in 2007.
Shattuck did not receive a bonus or an increase in his base salary for the year in which Constellation flirted with bankruptcy and its stock plunged 75 percent. The Constellation chief's compensation includes a $1.3 million base salary and a host of stock options and incentives that materialize if the company's shares rise. Constellation stock closed at $23.31 yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, up 76 cents.
Baltimore-based Constellation is the parent of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., the state's largest utility. Constellation, which has agreed to sell half of its nuclear power business to Electricite de France for $4.5 billion to help it avoid bankruptcy, has laid off hundreds of workers, slashed its stockholder dividend and is seeking rate increases for its BGE customers.
Shattuck announced earlier this year that he would forgo any bonus payment for 2008, calling the decision a "modest and firm signal that I'll do all that I can do to help steer this great company back to health with renewed growth." He announced the move just as Constellation reported a $1.4 billion loss in the fourth quarter of last year. Shattuck received a $5.5 million bonus in 2007 and $10.8 million the year before.
Company directors, mindful that executive salaries have been points of controversy amid the declines in the economy and stock market, said they agreed not to award Shattuck a bonus because of the company's performance, but left his salary and other stock-based compensation intact to show their confidence in him to lead the company out of its recent troubles.
"He has the total support of the board and total support of myself as chair of the compensation committee," said Constellation board member Robert J. Lawless, who heads the group of directors that sets executive pay.
In documents filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Shattuck's compensation included a $10.3 million rise in the value of a pension that company officials said he is not yet eligible to receive.
