Like just about everyone in the Houston area, I spent several days without power, internet, or cell service due to Hurricane Beryl. Unsurprisingly, with wide-spread outages that lasted days, many upon many are calling for CenterPoint, the power utility, to be held accountable for their negligence and unpreparedness.
Unfortunately, if the Chud in charge of the State of Texas and the Public Utilities Commission have the balls to hold CenterPoint accountable, it will be done in such a way that the cost is somehow passed on to rate-payers. This helps Gov. Abbott ($7.8 million in donations from energy companies since 2021) and his cronies look tough to their constituents, while keeping the pipeline of money from the energy companies flowing.
Which is bullshit. The average executive at CenterPoint makes $4 million a year with the CEO pulling in $37.8 million. Shouldn’t we be punishing the decision makers first and the company second? Let’s take a bite out of their inflated salaries and hurt them instead of the company. Because when you hurt the company, the executives don’t get hurt. Executives just use that as an excuse for layoffs, rate hikes, and the like. Because it is better to put 3000 people out of work if it preserves the paycheck an executive receives for doing their job badly. Rate-hikes are necessary because executives failed to execute and they made bad decisions.
Think of a corporation as a ship. If the ship runs into a bridge, you don’t punish the ship, you punish the captain. So maybe we start punishing the executives who are steering the corporation.
Yes, I know this is a Pollyanna position to take. It is very much un-American to hold someone accountable for their actions and their failures, especially a CEO. Additionally, it is downright illegal to take money from the rich and powerful; we are only allowed to take money from the poor, and it is likely money they don’t have to begin with. But let’s just play along and figure out how to punish CenterPoint executives so they not only know they fucked up, but now have to face the consequences:
- 50% of the salary for any executive making over $1 million per year.
- Requirement for all executives to fly coach (middle seat) with the rabble on all trips instead of using the company jet (this will also act as a cost savings to additionally offset any fines and it is better for the climate).
- Headshots of each executive on public transportation vehicles and infrastructure with the caption, “You were without power for five days because of this person.”
- Once per month, the power to each executive’s home will be randomly cut for up to 36 hours. Their generator, solar panels, and/or battery will be disconnected. This will continue for one year regardless of season and regardless of weather. An executive may not go to Cancun with Ted Cruz during said power outage.
- And finally, the fall guy cannot be some mid-level manager. It has to be a C-level executive and oh by the way, they do not get a severance package.
Sucks to be accountable, huh?
Jamoosh Interrupted 