CEO Pay Watch Xcel Energy Inc.

Benjamin Fowke III, chairman, president and CEO

Total compensation: $7,315,660 for the year ended Dec. 31

Salary: $1,200,000

Non-equity incentive pay: $1,512,236

Other compensation: $76,814

Value realized on vesting shares: $4,526,610

Total 2014 shareholder return: 33.5 percent

Note: Fowke took home $7.3 million in 2014, up from $6.5 million in 2013. Fowke's salary increased $50,000. However, his bonus — made up of a mix of system reliability, customer and employee operational measures — was down 10.5 percent compared to 2013.

Fowke's overall compensation rose because the value of his restricted shares that vested in 2014 was 26.2 percent higher than those that vested in 2013.

In 2014, the Minneapolis-based energy company earned more than $1 billion for the first time on sales of $11.7 billion. Net earnings rose 7.7 percent, while revenue increased 7.1 percent.

Patrick Kennedy