Robert Frenzel was promoted to president and CEO of Xcel in August 2021 and added the chairman role in December 2021. His salary for 2022 increased to $1.2 million to reflect his new responsibilities, adding to his overall compensation, which increased nearly 23%.
- Total compensation for year ended Dec. 31: $7,619,203
- Salary: $1,200,000
- Non-equity incentive pay: $1,985,850
- Other compensation: $63,593
- Value realized from vesting shares: $4,369,760
- CEO pay ratio: 86 to 1
- Median employee pay: $119,851
- Total shareholder return for 2022: 6.5%
Note: Frenzel holds the role of both chairman and CEO of Xcel Energy as did Frenzel's predecessors Ben Fowke and Richard Kelly.
The trend among S&P 500 companies over the years has been to split the chairman and CEO roles. Xcel noted in the proxy that it regularly reviews its governance structure, including the dual chairman and CEO role. But paired with Chris Policinski, the lead independent director since 2016, the board said it continues to believe Frenzel's combined chairman/CEO role provides the best governance structure for Xcel.
Frenzel's total realized compensation increased 22.8% over his total from 2021. Part of it was his increased salary since succeeding Fowke in 2021 and a larger potential annual cash bonus, which increased by nearly $1 million from the previous year.
That non-equity incentive pay is based on mix of financial targets; safety goals for the public and employees; diversity, equity and inclusion goals; and customer satisfaction measures.
For 2022, the combined metrics for annual incentives paid out at 79% of targeted performance, down from the 85% payout in 2021. The combined score in 2022 was dragged down in part by a J.D. Power survey of customer satisfaction that failed to meet the minimum threshold.
Xcel claims it was among the first U.S. energy providers when 18 years ago it tied executives' long-term compensation to environmental goals and that 30% of incentive pay today is tied to carbon reduction goals. According to the proxy, it has "reduced carbon emissions 53% since 2005 and remain on track to achieve 80% carbon reduction by 2030."
