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TAMPA — It may be hard in this economic climate to muster much sympathy for Tampa's energy titans, but top brass of TECO Energy saw their compensation drop last year.
Sherrill Hudson, chairman and chief executive of the parent company of both Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas, saw his total compensation drop 2.95 percent to $4.06 million.
Compensation includes salary, incentive pay, stock and option awards.
Hudson's 2008 salary increased 3.5 percent to $826,189 over 2007, while his 2008 bonus dropped to $574,928 from $850,360.
The biggest part of Hudson's compensation came from $2.5 million worth of stock awards. Companies award stock so that executives, like shareholders, have the same vested financial interest in the company's success.
Hudson also enjoyed more than $122,000 in additional payments, including $60,000 for a housing and travel allowance so he can keep his Miami home. TECO Energy spent an additional $46,902 for the company's private airplane to ferry him back and forth to Tampa.
All but one of the company's five top executives saw a slight decrease in compensation. Compensation is determined by a committee of the board of directors.
The committee compares compensation by energy and other companies.
Incentive pay and stock awards are tied to performance benchmarks set for the company's executives and to the financial performance of the company.
Asjylyn Loder can be reached at aloder@sptimes.com or (813) 225-3117.
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