Santee Cooper’s top executives are staying for six more months and receiving more than $400,000 in performance-based pay, including $242,500 for the chief executive.
The board of directors approved the contract extensions at their meeting this week for CEO Mark Bonsall and deputy CEO Charlie Duckworth, who were brought in after the debacle at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Plant.
Bonsall’s extension still must be approved by the Agency Head Salary Commission as part the Santee Cooper reform package signed by Gov. Henry McMaster earlier this month. The commission sets pay for directors of state agencies.
Duckworth will receive $160,050 in performance-based pay.
Oversight by the salary commission — which includes eight lawmakers and three gubernatorial appointees — was put in the reform package after the previous Santee Cooper CEO received $800,000 a year in retirement pay after he stepped down following the 2017 abandonment of V.C. Summer nuclear plant construction.
Santee Cooper was a partner in the project, which added billions in debt that customers will eventually have to pay. The project, however, never produced a watt of electricity.
When the salary commission will meet to discuss Bonsall’s contract has yet to be determined, but the contract extension is scheduled to go into effect July 9.
Bonsall’s six-month contract extension which will pay him $550,000 through Jan. 9, 2022.
“Any new CEO performance plan would be presented for approval to the Agency Head Salary Commission, just as we are submitting for Commission consideration the compensation piece of Mark Bonsall’s new contract extension,” said Mollie Gore, Santee Cooper spokeswoman.
But the the $242,500 being awarded to Bonsall is a part of his previous contract and won’t be subject to the legislators’ approval.
“There was a great deal of progress achieved by Mark and Charlie in all of the categories and most of the subcategories,” said David Singleton, a Santee Cooper board member. “I think we’re very fortunate … to have two people the quality of Mark and Charlie. I’m delighted they’re willing to stay the course and continue with us. And I’m very happy we’re awarding these guys additional compensation.”
Bonsall and Duckworth, who both previously worked in Arizona, joined Santee Cooper in 2019.
“It’s been an incredible ride but we’re not done,” Santee Cooper Acting Board Chairman Dan Ray told the two. “We have work ahead of us, and we’re glad you agreed to stay.”
