Utility CEOs pocket $626 million as American energy bills hit record highs

For years, American households have been watching their electrical bills gradually tick higher. As it turns out, the chief executives of the country’s largest investor-owned utilities were doing the same thing while looking at their paychecks.

Last year, 51 electrical and gas utility companies in the U.S. paid their CEOs a collective $626 million, according to an analysis published last week by the Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog organization. It’s a nearly $100 million increase from 2024, when 54 utility companies were reviewed. Between 2017 and 2025, CEOs of electric and gas companies received a total of $5.2 billion in compensation, including major providers such as Pacific Gas & Electric, Entergy, and Con Edison.

Last year, utilities requested a record-high $31 billion in rate hikes, more than double the increases from 2024, according to a January report by the nonprofit organization PowerLines, a series of hikes that would affect 81 million Americans. Between 2021 and 2025, electricity prices surged by 40% on average, the report found.

Read more: https://fortune.com/2026/05/01/utility-ceo-pay-record-electricity-bills-rising/?preview_id=4477288