Congressman Cohen Introduces Measure to Base TVA Compensation on Comparable Public Utilities in Both the U.S. and Canada

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today introduced legislation that would require Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) compensation for the chief executive officer and employees to be comparable to the compensation of executives in public utilities in both the U.S. and Canada. The current law requires comparison with only entities in the U.S.

A review by the Congressional Research Service indicates that the chief executive officers of Canadian power companies make significantly less in annual total reported compensation than American CEOs.

In November, TVA CEO Jeff Lyash got a 35 percent raise and now makes $9.9 million a year. Before coming to TVA, Lyash was president and CEO of Ontario Power Generation Inc., one of Canada's largest electricity generating companies, whose CEO makes $3.8 million per year.

Congressman Cohen made the following statement:

"It is past time to get realistic about TVA salaries and to do so fairly and transparently. Electricity generation and transmission managed from Knoxville should not earn its CEO three times what a typical Canadian utility CEO makes. The comparison I am suggesting may open some eyes and restore some reality to compensation at TVA."

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