As Your Monthly Bill Jumped, Oncor’s CEO Received a $17 Million Bonus

The board of Dallas-based Oncor recently authorized a $17 million payment to its CEO, Robert Shapard, and three other execs are receiving payments of more than $2.7 million apiece, the Texas Tribune reported this morning. The approval for the bonuses was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Nov. 21, the day before Thanksgiving. Consumer advocates were not pleased. The company’s performance does “not in any way justify bonuses,” Tom “Smitty” Smith, Texas director for Public Citizen, told the Tribune. The bonuses come on the heels of the company’s recent $5-a-month add-on for its construction of wind-power transmission lines built across Texas, and the installation of smart meters, which will cost consumers $2.19 a month for the next 10 years.