Charles Caisley - Executive Vice President, Utility Operations and Chief Customer Officer | Evergy (EVRG) Executive Profile & Compensation

About Charles Caisley

Executive Vice President, Public Affairs and Chief Customer Officer at Evergy (EVRG). Promoted to EVP in October 2024 with base salary increased to $575,000 and annual cash incentive target increased to 70% of salary . Compensation is heavily at-risk and tied to Adjusted EPS, adjusted NFOM, safety, operations, and customer experience under the Annual Incentive Plan (AIP), and to three-year relative TSR vs EEI Index, cumulative adjusted EPS, and renewable MW additions under performance RSUs . AIP payouts over the last four years show moderation: 119.0% (2021), 115.5% (2022), 107.9% (2023), 91.5% (2024) reflecting performance against scorecard metrics . As of March 4, 2025, beneficial ownership totals 55,480 share equivalents (<1% of class), signaling alignment but not control .

Past Roles

Organization	Role	Years	Strategic Impact
Evergy	Senior Vice President, Public Affairs & Chief Customer Officer	Aug 2021–Oct 2024	Promotion in Aug 2021; led customer experience; assumed some strategic roles in 2021 management realignment
Evergy	Executive Vice President, Public Affairs & Chief Customer Officer	Oct 2024–present	Elevated responsibility; base salary raised to $575,000 and AIP target raised to 70%

External Roles

Not disclosed in the proxy filings reviewed. (No data found in DEF 14A 2021–2025 for external directorships/positions specific to Caisley.)

Fixed Compensation

Metric	2022	2023	2024
Committee-Set Base Salary ($)	$515,000	$532,500	$575,000
Salary Paid (Summary Comp Table) ($)	$514,711	$532,163	$551,106
Target Bonus (% of Salary)	65%	65%	70% (raised Oct 2024)
Actual AIP Paid ($)	$386,694	$373,442	$334,548 (prorated)
Stock Awards (Grant-date FV) ($)	$719,171	$798,722	$1,144,511
Change in Pension Value ($)	$9,983	$231,714	$123,170
All Other Compensation ($)	$67,698	$61,682	$76,741

Perquisites detail (2023): 401(k) match $19,800; DCP match $35,352; financial planning $3,300; parking $1,380; matched charitable donations $1,850; total $61,682 .

Performance Compensation

AIP Scorecard (2024)

Category	Metric	Weight (%)	Actual/Outcome	Weighted Payout (% of Target)
Financial	Adjusted EPS (incentive)	32.5%	Outcome not numerically disclosed	29.3%
Financial	Adjusted NFOM (incentive, $mm)	32.5%	Outcome not numerically disclosed	38.4%
Safety	DART	6.25%	0.0% payout	0.0%
Safety	PVAR	3.125%	Outcome not itemized	0.0% (aggregate safety)
Safety	PSIF investigations on track	3.125%	Outcome not itemized	0.0% (aggregate safety)
Operations	SAIDI	3.75%	Outcome not numerically disclosed	4.7%
Operations	SAIFI	3.75%	Outcome not itemized	3.0% (aggregate ops)
Operations	Unplanned commercial availability	7.5%	0.0% payout	0.0%
Customer Experience	J.D. Power Residential Satisfaction	2.25%	Score 0.61	0.0%
Customer Experience	Call Center Survey (1–5 scale)	2.65%	4.22	2.2%
Customer Experience	Business Customer Satisfaction (%)	2.65%	96.2%	4.6%
Modifiers	Committee discretionary ±10%	—	No modification	0.0%
Total	—	100%	—	91.5% total payout

AIP payout history:

Year	AIP Payout (% of Target)
2021	119.0%
2022	115.5%
2023	107.9%
2024	91.5%

Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) – Performance RSUs Framework

Metric	Weight (%)	Threshold	Target	Stretch	Superior
Relative TSR vs EEI Index (3-yr)	60.0%	25th percentile	50th percentile	70th percentile	90th percentile
3-yr Cumulative Adjusted EPS	33.3%	$11.74	$12.07	$12.25	$12.44
Environmental (renewable MW add/PPAs by YE 2026)	6.7%	≥200 MW	300–500 MW	≥500 MW in-service + 0–450 MW under contract	650 MW in-service + ≥300 MW under contract
TSR negative cap	—	—	Payout capped at 100% if absolute TSR is negative	—	—

Performance outcomes (historical):

2021 performance-based RSUs paid at 73.0% and vested March 2024 (affecting NEOs including Caisley) .
2020 performance-based RSUs paid at 83.1% in March 2023 (for legacy grants held by certain NEOs) .

Equity Ownership & Alignment

Beneficial Ownership (as of March 4, 2025)

Holder	Beneficially Owned Shares (#)	Share Equivalents Settling in Stock (#)	Total Share Interest (#)	% of Class
Charles A. Caisley	37,653	17,827	55,480	<1%

Stock ownership guidelines: CEO 6x salary; other execs 2–3x salary; all NEOs have met or are on track to meet requirements .
Policy prohibits short selling, hedging, and pledging for directors, executive officers, and employees .
No stock options outstanding for NEOs (including Caisley) .

Outstanding Equity Awards (12/31/2024)

Type	Unvested Units (#)	Market Value ($)	Notes
Time-based RSUs	18,388	$1,131,769 (at $61.55)	Includes reinvested dividends; see schedule below
Performance RSUs (target)	23,229	$1,429,745 (at $61.55)	2023–2025 and 2024–2026 cycles

Vesting schedule (time-based and ad hoc awards):

Grant Date	Vest Date(s)	Units
Mar 1, 2022	Mar 1, 2025	1,675
Mar 1, 2022	Mar 1, 2025	3,480
Mar 1, 2023	Mar 1, 2026	3,691
Mar 1, 2024	Mar 1, 2027	4,576
Oct 7, 2024 (promotion RSU)	Oct 7, 2025; Oct 7, 2026; Oct 7, 2027	4,966

Performance RSU cycles outstanding:

Performance Period	Target Units
2023–2025	10,117
2024–2026	13,112

Vested in 2024:

Type	Shares Acquired on Vesting (#)	Value Realized ($)
RSUs (incl. 2021 cliff vest and 2021 P-RSUs payout)	20,078	$1,086,680

Deferred Compensation & Retirement

Year	Exec Contributions ($)	Company Contributions ($)	Withdrawals ($)	Balance at FYE ($)
2022	$51,500	$35,805	$0	$339,261
2023	$53,255	$35,352	$(79,595)	$402,401
2024	$125,996	$34,825	$(138,507)	$443,200

Pension/SERP present values (12/31/2024):

Plan	Years of Credited Service	Present Value ($)
Evergy Retirement Plan	17.0	$496,485
KCP&L SERP	17.0	$577,393

Employment Terms

Employment status: At-will; no employment agreements with NEOs .
Clawback: SEC-compliant clawback policy for cash incentives and LTIP performance awards .
Change-in-control: Double-trigger required; no excise tax gross-ups in current agreements .

Potential Severance Payments (termination without Cause, as of 12/31/2024):

Component	Amount ($)
Salary	$575,000
Bonus	$402,500
Performance Share Unit Vesting (pro rata, at target)	$1,140,908
Restricted Stock Unit Vesting (pro rata)	$463,420
COBRA Cash	$26,951
Accrued Vacation	$23,912
Outplacement	$25,000
Total	$3,060,191

Potential Payments Upon Change-in-Control plus qualifying termination (double-trigger, as of 12/31/2024):

Component	Amount ($)
Two Times Salary	$1,150,000
Two Times Bonus	$660,223
Annual Bonus	$402,500
Retirement Benefit Enhancement	$234,673
Performance Share (Units) Vesting (fully earned at target)	$2,116,319
Restricted Stock (Units) Vesting	$1,028,672
Health and Welfare	$78,489
Accrued Vacation	$23,912
Total	$5,694,788

Investment Implications

Pay-for-performance alignment: Majority of compensation is at-risk and linked to measurable financial/operational metrics and multi-year TSR/EPS/renewable targets; clawback and no-options structure reduce incentive for short-term risk-taking .
Retention and selling pressure: Significant unvested RSUs and performance RSUs vesting March 2025/2026/2027 and October 2025/2026/2027 provide retention hooks but can create periodic selling pressure around vest dates; 20,078 shares vested in 2024 with $1.09M realized .
Change-in-control economics: Double-trigger CIC package totaling ~$5.7M, with full vesting of performance awards at target, indicates meaningful protection; absence of tax gross-ups is shareholder-friendly .
Ownership and alignment: Beneficial ownership of 55,480 share interests (<1%) plus robust ownership guidelines and prohibition on pledging/hedging support alignment with shareholders while limiting leverage risk .

Overall, Caisley’s compensation structure emphasizes customer and reliability metrics alongside EPS and cost control, with moderated AIP payouts in 2024 (91.5% vs prior years), suggesting disciplined but achievable targets; forthcoming vest schedules and CIC protections reduce near-term departure risk but warrant monitoring of vest-related trading and performance RSU achievement trajectories .