Amendment ID: S2477-23

Amendment 23

Transparency, Accountability, and Fairness Impacting Utility Rates

Ms. DiZoglio, Mr. Pacheco and Ms. Gobi move that the proposed new draft be amended by inserting the following new section:-

SECTION XX. Chapter 25 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 18A the following section:-

Section 18B. (a) Each investor-owned utility company, whether publicly traded or privately owned, licensed to do business in the commonwealth shall determine and disclose the value of the total annual compensation, including, but not limited to, base salary, bonuses, equity appreciation, new equity/option grants, benefits and perquisites, of its Chief Executive Officer for operations within the commonwealth even if such operations are performed under a subsidiary or division of a larger publicly traded utility company required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to disclose compensation information of the parent company and not its subsidiaries or divisions.

(b) Each such utility company shall also determine and disclose the value of the total annual compensation of the median employee of the company, excluding its Chief Executive Officer. For purposes of determining the compensation value of the median employee pursuant to this paragraph, the calculation shall take into account all employees and non-employee contractors of the utility company working within the commonwealth. Each utility company must determine the compensation value of its own median employee and may not rely on industry estimates or Bureau of Labor Statistics. Utility companies may seek guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s interpretation of calculating the compensation value of the median employee for purposes of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

(c) Each such utility company shall determine and disclose the ratio of the compensation value determined in paragraph (a) of this section to the compensation value determined in paragraph (b) of this section, and the methodology used in calculating both compensation values.

(d) Each such utility company subject to taxation in the commonwealth shall pay a surtax on the state corporate excise tax paid if the CEO-to-median employee compensation ratio is equal to or exceeds 100:1. If the ratio is equal to or exceeds 100:1 but is less than 250:1, the surtax rate shall be 10%. If the ratio is equal to or exceeds 250:1, the surtax rate shall be 25%. All surtaxes collected under this section shall be deposited into the Department of Public Utilities Disaster Mitigation Trust Fund, created pursuant to section 12S.

(e) Any such utility company subject to the surtax assessed pursuant to paragraph (d) of this section shall be prohibited from raising rates until such time as the CEO-to-median employee compensation ratio is less than 100:1.