After launching an unprecedented intervention in PJM’s electricity market in January, President Donald Trump and a group of Democratic governors have once again found themselves on the same side of a controversial energy issue. 

This time, it’s scrutiny of utility executive’s multi-million dollar salaries. 

Trump on March 11 signed a memorandum requesting that the Tennessee Valley Authority, the only federally owned utility in the U.S., cap employee salaries at $500,000 a year. That would be a more than 90% cut to TVA CEO Don Moul’s total compensation, which was $5.7 million in 2025. 

Meanwhile, governors in Maryland, New Jersey, and New York have endorsed limits on CEO compensation at investor-owned utilities — some of whom earn more than $14 million a year — as part of their broader energy affordability agendas. 

The White House said its directive to TVA ensures ratepayer funds are used for the benefit of the American people, and not “excessive payouts to executives.” Democrats have similarly criticized utility CEO pay as excessive at a time when many customers are struggling to pay higher energy bills.

It marks a rare moment of alignment between Trump and Democrats and reflects the populist message that has crept into the energy affordability debate. Most of the largest investor-owned utilities in the U.S. increased CEO pay between 2023 and 2024, according to research by the Energy and Policy Institute, a fossil-fuel and utility watchdog group. That trend is expected to continue into 2025, as load growth prompted by new data centers, domestic manufacturing, and electrification continues to increase. 

The Edison Electric Institute, a trade group representing utilities, estimated the industry will invest $1.1 trillion in the grid between 2025 and 2029 on new power generation, transmission and distribution, and gas pipelines. EEI declined to comment on politicians’ efforts to rein in executive pay.

Utility CEOs typically earn a base salary as well as bonuses, stock awards, and other performance-based incentives like cash awards if profits rise. But unlike other publicly traded companies, investor-owned utilities are effectively guaranteed a profit on capital investments they make — a “return on equity” that is decided by state energy regulators. Typically, the more infrastructure a utility builds, the higher its profits. 

By contrast, as a federally owned utility TVA doesn’t make profits nor does it have shareholders, spokesperson Scott Brooks told Latitude Media in an email. Instead, TVA reinvests revenues back into the system. 

TVA’s board of directors ultimately decide executive pay. Board chair Mitch Graves said they are reviewing Trump’s memo, which directed compensation changes within four months in “alignment with comparable positions” in the federal government. (President Trump’s salary is $400,000 a year, though he has significant income from other sources.) About 230 TVA employees earn more than $500,000 a year.

Moul’s $5.7 million in total annual compensation is dwarfed by what the CEOs of some other utilities earn. As of 2024, the CEOs of Southern Company, Nextera Energy, Sempra Energy, Duke Energy, and Berkshire Hathaway Energy were among the highest paid in the country, all earning over $21 million, the Energy and Policy Institute found. 

In Maryland, lawmakers are considering legislation that would cap what investor-owned utilities can recover from customers for supervisor pay; if passed, utilities could pay supervisors whatever they want, but only recover a certain amount from ratepayers. The cap is set just above the salary of the chair of the state PUC, who makes about $259,000 annually, Maryland Matters reported. 

Calvin Butler, the CEO of Exelon — which owns the largest investor-owned utilities in Maryland — earned about $14.4 million in total compensation in 2025, the company’s proxy statement shows.In a statement Exelon didn’t specifically address the supervisor pay portion of Democrats’ larger energy affordability legislation, known as the Utility Relief Act. The company said simply that it will continue to review the bill and ensure there aren’t any “unintended consequences for our customers.” 

Most House Republicans in Maryland argued that limiting pay wouldn’t save customers much money on their monthly bills and would only demonize utility executives. But several voted for the bill anyway. Now it’s being considered in the Senate.

It’s true that cutting into CEO pay may be more of a symbolic than tangible win when it comes to saving customers’ money on their bills. The main drivers of recent rate increases, which in 2025 hit $31 billion, are utility investments in generation, transmission, and distribution, as well as rebuilding infrastructure damaged by extreme weather like wildfires and hurricanes, according to a 2025 study from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

State PUCs review and approve those costs, and determine how much a utility is allowed to earn through rate case proceedings. So addressing those cost drivers, as well as expanding energy efficiency programs that help customers use less electricity at home, are more likely to help lower bills. 

Meanwhile, volatile gas prices are an added complication. Utilities don’t profit from higher prices and instead pass them along to customers. And while the energy shock caused by the Iran war hasn’t yet caused a dramatic spike for fossil gas in the U.S., prices are up by a bit, largely due to the disruption to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

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