The anti-coal crusaders at Renew Oregon have ballot measures in the works to make Oregon’s large utility power coal-free by 2030.

Drives to make Oregon more green aren’t new. But beyond coal, Renew Oregon sweetens one version of its initiatives for those longing to take a swipe at executive pay.

If the CEOs and CFOs of large electric utilities fail to meet the new standards, their total compensation gets scalped down to five times the annual Oregon median household income.

Renew Oregon told us they chose this new method of punishment because “it mirrors a common practice in business in which executives are paid according to performance.”

Renew Oregon must be using a broken mirror. The common practice is that businesses, not the government, set performance standards for executives.

If the executives failed to meet the targets, they would indeed face dramatic cuts in salary. Oregon’s median household income has been about $50,000, so five times that would be $250,000. Patrick Reiten, president and CEO of Pacific Power in 2014, received $1,513,927 in total compensation that year, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Who wouldn’t like to swap compensation with someone making stratospheric money? But is resentment or jealousy a reason to allow new, unprecedented government interference in the salary structure of a private company?

Nope.

Oregon’s utilities already face fines and other punishment for failing to obey the law and the direction of the Oregon Public Utility Commission. Why is that insufficient?

Pacific Power and Portland General Electric have not been frequent lawbreakers. The commission told us it has not had to issue a penalty against either Pacific Power or PGE in the last 10 years.

Star talent gets rewarded in private industry. Is the talent always worth it? Maybe not. But the government should not be the one deciding.