ISO New England Executive Compensation Upheld

The U.S. Court of Appeals’ D.C. Circuit recently upheld ISO New England’s 2009 executive compensation in the face of a challenge by the State of Connecticut.  In Blumenthal v. FERC, — F.3d —, 2010 WL 2794293, Connecticut challenged ISO New England’s executive compensation as too high, arguing that the process by which FERC approved the compensation levels was flawed.  In 2009, ISO New England executive compensation ranged from $984,000 for ISO New England’s President to $319,000 for the Vice President of Information Services.  The Court expressed sympathy for Connecticut, noting that Connecticut’s “concerns are not without some basis,” but it ultimately concluded that, based on the Court’s limited standard of review of FERC decisions, “we cannot say that FERC’s decision jumped the rails of reasonableness.”