Exec pay soars at Sierra

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Salaries and other compensation for several senior executives at Sierra Pacific Resources more than doubled over five years, exceeding recommendations from an expert hired by the company, according to the attorney general's Bureau of Consumer Protection. The compensation for former CEO and Chairman Walt Higgins, for example, was $4.9 million for the 12 months ending in mid-2007, up from $1.5 million five years earlier, according to Phil Williamson, an analyst with the bureau. Williamson analyzed the pay level of utility executives in written testimony filed in a rate case for Sierra Pacific Power Co. of Reno. Las Vegas-based Nevada Power Co., like the Reno company, is a subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources, and the same arguments could be raised in a December rate case filing for Nevada Power. The... [read full story]