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ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo has ordered an investigation into fat bonuses Con Ed executives hauled in as a reward for the their handling of Hurricane Sandy — a storm response that he called “a complete failure.”
In a letter sent yesterday and obtained by The Post, Cuomo told Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke that the state’s Public Service Commission will review “all documents associated with the approval of the bonuses.”
And Cuomo wants the PSC to make certain that the cost of paying out $614,000 in bonuses is not passed on to the utility’s rate payers in New York City and Westchester County.
In the letter, Cuomo pointed out the abysmal performance by utility companies during the storm.
“Six months ago today, Superstorm Sandy hit New York, and in its aftermath we witnessed a complete failure by many of our state’s utilities to provide adequate service to the rate payers they serve,” Cuomo wrote Burke, who scored a $315,400 bonus, lifting his salary to $1.53 million.
Cuomo’s letter got quick action. Yesterday afternoon, Burke agreed to return his bonus.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to return the special bonus granted by our compensation committee, and funded by shareholders, for handling very challenging events in 2012. I continue to commend the work of all of our employees,” he said in a statement.
Burke was one of four Con Ed execs who split $614,400 in bonus pay — which the company claims they deserved for handling “significant challenges” last year, a Con Ed proxy statement to shareholders revealed last week.
The other three execs didn’t immediately join Burke in returning their bonuses, as of late yesterday.
Craig Ivey, president of the Con Ed subsidiary that provides gas and power to New York and Westchester, got a $146,100 bonus, bringing his pay up to $830,183.
Chief Financial Officer Robert Hoglund got an $82,900 bonus that boosted his pay to $721,300. The utility’s general counsel, Elizabeth Moore, got a $70,000 bonus that took her pay to $609,142.
More than a million customers lost power during the storm — nearly a quarter of those in lower Manhattan, where it took the company four days to restore most of the service. Parts of upstate New York had no power for upward of 10 days.
In November, Cuomo ordered an investigation — which is still ongoing — into the storm prep and management by the utility.
And in his 2013-14 budget, Cuomo expanded the authority of the Public Service Commission to levy tougher penalties for violations and to conduct more in-depth reviews of utility emergency planning and performance as well as creating tougher penalties for violations of state law, regulations or PSC orders.
Con Ed’s execs are getting off easy compared with officials at the Long Island Power Authority — who resigned under pressure from Cuomo after the storm.