N.B. Power executives, judges among list of highest-paid provincial employees in 2023

Keith Cronkhite, the CEO of N.B. Power who was fired in July 2022, was the province's top-paid public servant in 2023. He earned between $575,000 and $599,999 that year.

The information was released as part of a list of all government employees making over $80,000 in the previous year, known as the "Sunshine List."

Cronkhite topped the list for a fourth straight year.

Published each December, the salaries are published online but only include a salary range for each person instead of an exact number.

Cronkhite's 2023 salary was larger than his past salaries, likely due to a severance payout. He made between $600,000 and $624,999 in 2022, and between $475,000 and $499,999 in 2021. 

The company's replacement CEO, Lori Clark, who stepped in as acting president in July 2022 and was appointed CEO in March 2023, came second on this year's list, making between $475,000 and $499,999.

N.B. Powers' Darren Murphy, chief financial officer and senior vice-president of corporate services and major projects, came in eighth, making between $375,000 and $399,999.

Leaders of Point Lepreau, N.B. Power's besieged nuclear plant, also placed high. It was shut down for eight months in 2024 due to generator trouble.

Darren Elliott made between $350,000 and $374,999. A LinkedIn account with the same name lists him as a shift supervisor at the plant since 2015.

Mark Power made between $325,000 and $349,999. An N.B. Power bulletin from 2018 announced Power as the new station director for Point Lepreau.

N.B. Power employees made up 51 of the top 100 spots on this year's list. This comes as the utility just won the ability to raise customer rates an average of 19 per cent over two years.

Judges came next on the list, with Jacques Desjardins and Kenneth Oliver making between $400,000 and $424,999. Oliver retired in December 2023 while the subject of a disciplinary proceeding for misconduct.

The profession dominates the highest earner spots this year, with 26 of the top 35 earners in the province listed as judges.

The fifth-highest paid public employee of 2023 was Dragana Kelly of Horizon Health Network, who is not an executive. She made $400,000 and $424,999, an increase of about $25,000 from 2022. That's more than the salaries of both health authority executives.