A new study showed Chief Executive Officers of the nation’s investor-owned electric and gas utilities hauled in $626 million total last year and two of them are in Oklahoma.
The analysis by the Energy and Policy Institute of recent annual corporate filings revealed the top ten earners received more than $200 million “as customers fell behind,” said the Institute in making its announcement.
As the nation’s highest paid utility company CEO, Fehrman commands AEP, the parent company to Public Service Company of Oklahoma.
In describing his total compensation, the analysis stated, “Ohio-based American Electric Power (AEP) compensated CEO Bill Fehrman $36.6 million in 2025, making him in the highest paid utility CEO of the year by a wide margin. It would take the average worker in AEP’s home state of Ohio 550 years to earn what Fehrman made last year, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Fehrman’s 2025 pay was a $23.3 million increase over the previous year, driven by stock awards intended to motivate Fehrman to “create sustainable shareholder value,” incentivize focus on “longer-term results,” and reduce risk of CEO turnover.”
Ranking second was Chris Womack, CEO of Georgia-based Southern Company and the top-paid utility executive in 2024.
“Womack raked in $28.2 million in 2025, the same year that subsidiary Georgia Power disconnected customers 311,513 times. Overall, Georgia Power customers ended the year behind on their bills by $111.5 million. The average Georgia worker would have to work for 402 years to match Womack’s earnings,” stated the Institute in describing his compensation.
Sean Trauschke, CEO at Oklahoma Gas and Electric was ranked 23rd highest paid utility executive with a total compensation of $12,032,007, reported the Institute.
ONE Gas CEO Robert McAnnally ranked 46 with total compensation of $5,575,027 in 2025.
Some of the utilities also have connections to their electric generating projects in states adjacent to Oklahoma, such as Entergy
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Entergy CEO Andrew Marsh with $16.8 million. The average Louisiana worker would have to work 271 years to match Marsh’s earnings. Entergy Arkansas disconnected customers 94,893 times for non-payment in 2025 and had 123,904 customers in arrears at the end of the year.
NextEra Energy has several projects in Oklahoma including a proposed solar farm in Wagoner County. Its CEO ranked third in the Institute’s review of CEO salaries and compensation.
Florida-based NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum came in third with $24.2 million in compensation for 2025, the same year that state utility regulators granted its subsidiary Florida Power & Light’s request to saddle its customers with a record-breaking $6.9 billion rate hike. It would take an average Florida 347 years to match Ketchum’s 2025 earnings.
The Energy Institute concluded that of the 51 utilities reviewed, CEOs received an average of $12.3 million which represented a nearly 16 percent increase from 2024. At least 27 utility CEOs received an increase in compensation of more than $1 million.
Lavish CEO perks include private jets, club memberships
The Institute reported that as part of their compensation, utility CEOs frequently received a variety of perks provided by their employers. Some also provide executives with club members, “as is the case for Southwest gas, OGE Energy and Spire,” stated the analysis.
Some utility executives commonly have access to private air travel, either using third-party charter planes or company jets. In some instances, utility CEOs are allowed to fly private with their families or guests, for personal matters, or both. Those that provide CEO’s personal use of private aircraft include FirstEnergy, AEP, Southern Company, Alliant Energy, Nisource, NextEra, PG&E and Sempra.