Progress Energy 2009 Annual Report Download - page 174

PROXY STATEMENT
36
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The purposes of the CIC Plan and the levels of payment it provides are designed to:
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company’s performance;
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The Committee has the sole authority and discretion to designate employees and/or positions for
participation in the CIC Plan. The Committee has designated certain positions, including all of the named executive
officer positions, for participation in the CIC Plan. Participants are not eligible to receive any of the CIC Plan’s
benefits absent both a CIC of the Company and an involuntary termination of the participant’s employment without
cause, including voluntary termination for good reason. Good reason termination includes changes in employment
circumstances such as:
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Rather than allowing benefit amounts to be determined at the discretion of the Committee, the CIC Plan
has specified multipliers designed to be attractive to the executives and competitive with current market practices.
With the assistance of its executive compensation and benefits consultant, the Committee has reviewed the
benefits provided under the CIC Plan to ensure that they meet the Company’s needs, are reasonable and fall within
competitive parameters. The Committee has determined that the current multipliers are needed for the CIC Plan to
be effective at meeting the goals described above.
The CIC Plan provides separate tiers of severance benefits based on the position a participant holds within
our Company. The continuation of health and welfare benefits coverage and the degree of excise tax gross-up for
terminated participants align with the length of time during which they will receive severance benefits.