Itron Stock Sale Pays Off For Redmond
Washington Water Power Co. paid Chairman Paul Redmond $1.36 million in 1994, largely because of earnings from the sale of Itron Inc. stock.
It was the second year in a row that the sale of stock in WWP subsidiaries has lifted Redmond’s total compensation above the $1 million mark.
Besides being the utility’s chairman, Redmond is its chief executive officer and president, a job he took in February when predecessor Jim Harvey retired.
WWP is the largest Spokane-based, publicly traded company.
Redmond is also chairman of Itron and Pentzer, the holding company for all WWP non-utility operations.
The disclosure of his pay and that of WWP’s four other top executives was contained in a proxy statement mailed to company shareholders Friday. The company also released its annual report.
Executive compensation at WWP is determined according to a complex set of guidelines and formulas established by a committee of company directors.
The salary portion of Redmond’s pay in 1994 increased 3.4 percent, as did the median pay of all other officers.
That hike brought his base pay to $499,000. Of that, two-thirds was paid by WWP, one-third by Pentzer and Itron, which makes electronic meter-reading equipment.
Washington and Idaho ratepayers of WWP cover only Redmond’s utility salary, or $338,767.
Most of his compensation was a $828,700 incentive payout derived from sales of Itron stock in 1993 and 1994.
Corporate Secretary Terry Simms said proceeds from the October 1993 offering, which raised a total $27 million, were not booked until 1994.
The secondary offering, which raised about $49 million, was completed in November 1994.
In 1993, Redmond’s total pay of $1.2 million included incentive payments and bonuses worth $672,000 based on the sale by Pentzer of two subsidiaries, Northwest Telecommunications Inc. and Pentzer Energy Services Inc.
He also received a $71,000 incentive payment from WWP based on the utility’s performance. He received no bonus or payment from utility operations for 1994, when the company battled the effects of low streamflows and below normal demand for energy.
Pentzer chipped in 25 cents, or 20 percent, towards WWP income per common share in 1994. The company would have fallen short of earning its $1.24 annual dividend without the help from its subsidiaries.
Although Pentzer has sold most of its Itron stock, Simms said the company should be able to continue making significant contributions to WWP’s bottom line this year.
In the annual report, WWP says it has increased its reserve for cleanup of an oil spill near the Davenport Hotel from $2 million to $3.1 million.
Simms said the additional money was used to finance more drilling around the spill site to determine the extent of the contamination.