Hydro Tasmania executives received golden handshakes worth almost $2.4 million in the last financial year, a figure the state Labor opposition has labelled "obscene."
The Tasmanian government business enterprise's latest annual report reveals a series of executive payouts made last year, compared with termination payments of just $162,000 paid out the previous year.
Former chief executive Steve Davy walked away with termination benefits worth $669,000, while former chief operations officer Gerard Flack received a significantly higher sum of $965,000.
Chief strategy officer Andrew Catchpole was given $542,000 as he left, while chief people officer Robert Tanti's received benefits worth $207,000.
Since the end of the financial year, the new chief executive, Evangelista Albertini, has also left Hydro, but his termination benefits are not included in the latest annual report.
Labor energy spokesman Dean Winter said giving millions to already well-paid executives was "an obscene waste".
"Under the Liberals' watch, the excess is obscene and will disgust Tasmanians."
Mr Winter had earlier raised concerns in Parliament about whether Hydro was preparing to mothball the Tamar Valley Power Station, which proved crucial in providing electricity to Tasmanians during the months-long 2016 Basslink outage.
Energy Minister Guy Barnett said Hydro had performed well, despite a challenging year dealing with the impacts of COVID-19.
He said while Hydro was renegotiating its gas supply contract before it expires at the end of the year, it was not being mothballed or prepared for sale.
Payouts 'reflect nature and tenure of senior roles', company says
Hydro undertook a restructure during 2020-21, announcing in March that about 50 jobs would go over 12 months.
It has recorded an underlying profit of $217 million, with net debt at $647 million.
In a statement, a Hydro Tasmania spokesperson said "remuneration levels for key management personnel are competitively set to attract and retain appropriately qualified and experienced executives".
"Payments included all forms of benefit paid or accrued as a consequence of termination, including leave entitlements, in accordance with employment contracts."
The payout revelations come a day after the government revealed it and Hydro Tasmania would take legal action against the operators of the Basslink undersea cable following the 2015 outage that plunged the state into an energy crisis.
Basslink owes Tasmania $70 million in compensation and legal costs after arbitration, and the government said the company had also failed to undertake required improvements to the cable.
Basslink has said the move to pursue legal action was "deeply regrettable", while Mr Winter said it placed Tasmania's energy security under threat.
Energy Minister Guy Barnett said Tasmania's energy supply was secure, adding the stand off with Basslink's owners could not be allowed to continue.
