Avista CEO Earned $2.2M In 2008

53 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

• 

  tarynahecker on March 24 at 5:14 p.m.

  Well, if they paid him any less he wouldn’t be able to afford to pay his utility bills. If his house is as big as his salary, then he’s gotta be hurting just as bad as the rest of us as Avista continues raising their rates.

• 

  tarynahecker on March 24 at 5:21 p.m.

  The article doesn’t mention if Mr. Morris is single. Anyone?

• 

  JeanieSpokane on March 24 at 5:22 p.m.

  There is something extremely obscene about doubling your salary when it’s already in the millions. Millions!!!!

  It may be the standard for California or New York - but not Spokane, Washington.

• 

  hmoffsuite on March 24 at 5:23 p.m.

  Compared to what other regional CEOs of public companies make, it is probably about right. I think he earns his more than many, considering the performance of their companies and respective share prices. (worth)

• 

  PatrickH on March 24 at 5:25 p.m.

  How many spokespersons does Avista have? Every time there is a story or a segment on TV they attribute or talk to a different “spokesperson”

• 

  Digger on March 24 at 5:42 p.m.

  $2.2 million to the top dog of a company that does $2 Billion seems pretty fair to me.

• 

  Escapee on March 24 at 6:39 p.m.

  I don’t think anyone who makes a coupla million a year is gonna suffer, and if that’s indeed happening, maybe he can lower his personal budget by a cool $500-thousand dollars. Five hundred thousand dollars?

  Meantime, A-Rod rakes it in hand over fist, making that money in a month’s time (based upon his $252 million contract over 10 years, which was his first big contract.) He’s making more than that now, if you can imagine…

  I repeat my offer here: I’m not selfish or greedy. I would happily settle for only ONE million dollars. Anyone wanna donate?

• 

  Nick_Adams on March 24 at 7:04 p.m.

  It’d be nice to see a comparison piece on what CEOs of similar-sized companies make. hmo throws out a statement with no facts behind it that the salary is “probably” in line. What does the CEO of Idaho Power make? What does the BPA administrator make? What about the CEO of Areva (the French company who wants to build a Uranium enrichment plant in Idaho)?

  Of course, the difference is that Avista is not Costco, Starbucks or any similar public company. They’re a utility—essentially making money off of what is a commodity owned by the public. They don’t have competitors. Their product is supplied by nature and is essential to the survival of their customers.

  I’ve always been disturbed by the fact that utilities, food processors and other suppliers of our basic necessities are allowed to profit from something we require to survive.

• 

  Duffer on March 24 at 7:13 p.m.

  Nick…Here’s a site that might help you research salaries:

  http://swz.salary.com/execcomp/layoutscripts/excl_companysearch.asp

• 

  hmoffsuite on March 24 at 7:47 p.m.

  nick >> “hmo throws out a statement with no facts behind it that the salary is “probably” in line”

  I didn’t just ‘throw out’ a statement. Every year, the annual salaries for each of the public companies in the Inland Empire are published in the paper. I read it rather closely. I remember what I read. I make statements based on what I remember. Do some reasearch and you will find my statement to be quite accurate. Don’t throw out that ‘no facts’ stuff unless you are prepared to challenge them with your own facts. Get to work.

• 

  keithincda on March 24 at 7:50 p.m.

  do you really need “facts” when you say “probably”? seems to me they cancel each other out Nick. Guess it’s all in how you read it. I agree with hmo and Digger, based on the company’s revenue, it’s “probably” in line with industry norms…But I’m willing to read Nick’s “facts” once he finds them that refute it..;)

• 

  Nick_Adams on March 24 at 8:37 p.m.

  hmo and Keith: Since when does the questioner need to provide the “facts” to disprove statements provided without proof? For greedist apologists, your arguments need a little more steak and less sizzle.

  I’d like to see hmo’s “facts”, first. He’s the one that made the statement. I’m sure they’re readily available to him.

  But, I’ll help you out:

  Costco’s CEO made a little less than $4 million in total compensation last year. Costco is worth almost $30 billion.

  Idacorp (Idaho Power) is worth a little over $1 billion. Its CEO makes almost $500k. About one quarter of what Avista’s CEO makes for a company twice the size.

  So, the Avista CEO made $2 million working for a $2 billion monopoly suckling off the public teat and the Costco CEO made $4 million working for a $30 billion company that survives only because it supplies its customers with a superior product.

  That doesn’t seem “about right” by my math.

  Next.

• 

  keithincda on March 24 at 8:55 p.m.

  Hey Nick, it’s about p-r-o-f-i-t. The guys that bring in the money to the bottom line get paid well, face it, that is a fact.
  Worth (your word) of a company and profitability of a company are 2 completely different things. All of these guys make obscene money but the good ones usually justify it by good company performance or return to owners/shareholders. Hence all the up roar about AGI bonuses to guys that were responsible for it’s failure.
  Comparison of a retailer to an energy/utility company cost you some credibility….

• 

  Nick_Adams on March 24 at 9:07 p.m.

  Keith: That’s why I included the Idacorp CEO. He’s returning similar results to his shareholders, but is compensated less than the Avista CEO on a comparative basis.

  Don’t forget, your buddy hmo was the one that brought up the comparison to regional CEOs. I offered one as a example where his factless analysis failed.

  Don’t talk to me about credibility. So far, you’ve offered nothing that backs up your defense of hmo. Dude, get teh Google.

• 

  Me on March 24 at 9:54 p.m.

  Nick - not sure where you are looking, but the link above shows the Idacorp guy at 1.1 total compensation and AFL-CIO shows him at 1.4 million.

• 

  Nick_Adams on March 24 at 10:22 p.m.

  Me: I got the Idacorp info from Businessweek. I’m not sure about the link above, since it doesn’t match the Avista info from the SR article.

  The BW link is: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ric=IDA

  Either way, despite you and Keith’s lame attempts to cover for hmo’s completely baseless assertions, I’ll give you points for loyalty to your corporate masters.

• 

  Sam on March 24 at 10:30 p.m.

  So, HMoff, to be clear, you believe a company that controls a public resource via government approval and has basically no competition should have a CEO that earns millions?

  I’m very serious, not judging what he earns, because I don’t care. but i know when you mention millions people get worked up. Not me.

• 

  Dan_at_Avista on March 25 at 9:06 a.m.

  Full disclosure – I work at Avista. It’s tough to find current comparisons for CEO compensation online like we’ve been discussing. The information is often from the previous year or two. Since Avista’s info was only released yesterday, it’s hard to compare old and new facts. The figure in the newspaper today lists Scott Morris’ base salary, stock incentives, cash incentives, the change in value of pension and deferred compensation and other compensation. I’m not sure what all other salary sites list, yet I think its usually only cash, equity and other compensation. You can always get the info from each company’s proxy statement, which is public info when it’s released.

  Avista used the term “mid-range” describing its CEO’s compensation compared to peers. Just using the site that Duffer mentioned – salary.com, I see that the total comp for Scott Morris is listed as $830,524. The total comp for the same position at IdaCorp (Idaho Power) is $1,172,233; for Puget Sound Energy $4,797,399; for Portland General Electric $2,260,249. I’m not verifying this info, but mid-range seems pretty accurate.

• 

  hmoffsuite on March 25 at 9:38 a.m.

  nick >>> “Don’t forget, your buddy hmo was the one that brought up the comparison to regional CEOs”

  Yes I did. Check Coeur d’Alene mines for a nice local comparison. And, Sam, I didn’t say I agreed with the money paid these guys, simply that I thought the Avista comp was about right.

• 

  zelda on March 25 at 10:27 a.m.

  Taryn — Scott Morris, I’ve heard, is Mormon, so I doubt if he’s single.

  One of Avista’s legion of spokespersons said, “Our executives are paid mid-range of what their peers are paid. That’s what it takes to run a $2 billion company.”

  First of all, a $2B company ain’t that big. And it’s not like he’s fighting off competitors. He’s paid $2.2M basically for shooting fish in a barrel and keeping the dividend intact. Big whoop.

  Mid-range is standard HR compensation-speak, meaning Avista does some sort of national survey and analysis. But these executive comp surveys all reinforce each other and pay-for-performance flew out the window a long time ago. Morris seems competent, but consider that he also could totally wreck the company and still be paid handsomly to leave. In fact, leaving would probably make him a richer man.

  And let’s not forget that each board member is paid a nice chunk of change just for attending a quarterly meeting. It’s the board that sets the performance metrics for the CEO and if they set the bar low, then it’s painfully true that 90% of life is just showing up.

• 

  Me on March 25 at 1:52 p.m.

  Thanks for the schooling Nick - but I simply looked because I truly was INTERESTED.

  How that turned into “I’ll give you points for loyalty to your corporate masters.” I’ll not even guess…….

• 

  Kage_Mann on March 25 at 2:01 p.m.

  The problem with Avista is:that it’s a for profit company VS a non-profit cooperative, which can afford to give consumers more reasonable rates for their service.

• 

  Nick_Adams on March 25 at 2:09 p.m.

  @Me: I’m sorry if I mistook your information as an argument. I was frustrated, that as the only one who’d actually attemepted to use facts in the discussion, they were questioned, not the mere opinionating offered earlier.

  <sharp elbow=”“ withdrawn=”“>

• 

  keithincda on March 25 at 2:11 p.m.

  Hey Me..that’s Nick’s typical liberal attack the messenger not the message ….

  all I chimed in for was that I didn’t read HMO’s 1st post as being factual like Nick thought it was. But thankfully Nick set us all straight…

• 

  zelda on March 25 at 2:19 p.m.

  Correction — former CEO Ely is, I’ve heard, Mormon. Not sure about the current CEO’s religious persuasion.

• 

  Nick_Adams on March 25 at 2:26 p.m.

  Keith: You need to turn your irony filter up a little higher before posting. Either that, or you’re secretly admitting you’re a liberal by attacking the messenger, not the message. ; )

• 

  keithincda on March 25 at 2:57 p.m.

  Definitely not a liberal so…. touche….;)

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