Pay to Alinta Energy CEO Jeff Dimery and its key management rises by $7m to $25m

As many of its 1.2m customers battle to pay their bills, Chinese-owned Alinta Energy has signed off on a pay increase worth a combined $7m to its top brass, including CEO Jeff Dimery.

Exclusive: A Chinese-owned energy company that supplies more than a million Australian households and businesses has increased annual executive pay by $7 million or nearly 40 per cent.

In a move likely to intensify resentment of power industry fat cats, Alinta has provided a galling justification for the surge – the company says it must keep up with the extraordinary salaries rivals are lavishing on their “key management personnel” or it runs the risk of an exodus.

Financial statements reveal Alinta paid its top brass $25.2 million in the financial year just ended, up from $18.3m in 2022-23.

Compared to 2020-21, Alinta’s executive pay is now more than 80 per cent higher.

In the most recent financial year, the bulk of the 38 per cent increase in total pay was due to a leap in “long-term benefits”, which rose to $8.5m from $2.4m. Short-term benefits were also up by $1.2m to $16.4m.

These payments are believed to have been shared between about seven people, with the largest amount going to CEO Jeff Dimery. The company refused to confirm any of this.

Alinta Energy CEO Jeff Dimery. Picture: The Australian’s Aaron Francis

Alinta Energy’s owner is Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Capital Ltd since 2017. Chow Tai Fook is owned by billionaire Henry Cheng and his family, which is one of Asia’s richest. Dr Cheng is a director of Alinta Energy. The family is also behind the new Brisbane casino and entertainment precinct.

The change to increase Alinta’s long-term incentives is understood to be the result of “external advice” taken by the company.

Chinese billionaire Henry Cheng. Picture: Supplied

A spokesman said: “We remunerate our leaders in line with market benchmarks to attract and retain leaders who can, in turn, deliver our customers great service and competitive rates for their energy.”

Rival Origin Energy ratcheted up pay to its executives by 14 per cent in 2023-24 to $22.4m.

At AGL, the earnings of key management personnel rose by less than $100,000 to $10.8m.

Chinese-owned EnergyAustralia boosted its pay to mahogany row by just over $1m to $12.3m.

Alinta would not say how much its CEO Mr Dimery earned in 2023-24 and the information is not required to be disclosed in financial statements filed with Australia’s corporate regulator.

Its rivals do publish details of their chiefs’ pay. We recently revealed the bosses of Origin, AGL and EnergyAustralia had collectively received an annual pay boost of more than $1m over the past year, to more than $10m.

At the same time, prices paid by their customers soared by more than 20 per cent.

Readers were reviled.

EnergyAustralia boss Mark Collette got a 45 per cent pay increase in 2023. Picture: News Corp Australia

“We suffer and struggle to make ends meet and these overpaid executives are being paid by overcharging customers,” reader Robbo said.

Another reader, John, said customers could show their dissatisfaction by leaving.

“Don’t be loyal,” he said. “You have a weapon.”

But reader Scott said: “They are all underpaid for similar roles by global standards.”

Alinta has about 650,000 electricity and gas customers on the east coast of Australia and 1.2m nationally.