Top Enmax execs' salaries rise as company reports lower earnings

Enmax may have reported lower earnings and a lower dividend for the City last year, but the compensation for some of its senior executives continues to rise.

The City-owned utility released its 2017 executive compensation documents Friday.

According to the documents, the total compensation for CEO and president Gianna Manes increased to $2.4 million in 2017, up from nearly $2.2 million the year before.

Her base salary rose from $682,500 to $709,615, but other compensation, pension plans and other performance-based bonuses made up the rest of her total compensation, some of which is paid out in future years. 

The other three top executives made $1 million or more in 2017. 

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said Manes' compensation is comparable to similar companies in the electrical industry. 

"Her total compensation increase remained less than half — between a third and a half — of what peer companies in the electrical utilities get," the mayor said.

"You know, I continue to think that we did the right thing at Enmax by really reining in executive salaries some years ago but at the same time, we're not going to change the whole world. Executive compensation in the world is out of control."

• Enmax dividend falls as industry faces uncertain times

In 2016, Enmax froze all management salaries, including executive salaries, in response to the slump in Alberta's economy.

Enmax's annual dividend to the City dropped from $48 million to $40 million from 2016 to 2017. The dividend is paid quarterly through 2018.

Nenshi said without strong leaders at the company's helm, the situation could have been worse.

"The question you have to ask yourself is, would it have been much worse without great management? And we've seen peer companies do worse, and so part of rewarding your management is to say, 'you know, not only do you get us through good times, you also get us through bad times,'" he said.