UPDATE 1-Berkshire's Abel sees 2015 pay surge 48 pct to $40.77 mln

(Adds compensation details, background, comment, byline)
By Jonathan Stempel
Feb 29 (Reuters) - The energy unit of Warren Buffett's
Berkshire Hathaway (N:BRKa) Inc BRKa.N on Monday said Gregory Abel, its
chairman and chief executive, saw his compensation jump 48
percent last year to $40.77 million, reflecting a large
incentive award.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co said Abel, 53, whom many
investors view as a potential successor to Buffett as
Berkshire's chief executive, was awarded $28 million under a
profit-sharing plan tied to the unit's earnings.
Abel also received a $1 million salary and an $11.5 million
bonus. His pay package was disclosed in Berkshire Hathaway
Energy's annual report. Abel's compensation in 2014 was $27.58
million, including a $12 million incentive award.
The 2015 package makes Abel one of the best paid among U.S.
energy executives and Berkshire's 361,270 employees.
It could also be a factor in his staying with Berkshire.
In a letter to shareholders that fueled speculation about
Abel's future, Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger called
Abel a "world-leading" performer who, in some ways, was a better
businessman than Buffett.
"If he's that talented, he could have a host of other,
extremely lucrative opportunities outside the company," said
Minor Myers, a Brooklyn Law School professor specializing in
executive pay.
"One goal of executive compensation is to retain people who
have attractive alternative opportunities," Myers said. "You
want to keep the best people at the firm, and this may be
Berkshire's way of doing it."
Abel has been Berkshire Hathaway Energy's chief executive
since 2008, and its chairman since 2011. He also sits on the
board of the food company Kraft Heinz Co KHC.O , in which
Berkshire owns a 26.8 percent stake.
Berkshire Hathaway Energy's profit rose 13 percent last year
to $2.37 billion, helped by higher electric and natural gas
revenue and the 2014 purchase of Canada's AltaLink electricity
transmission business.
The unit operates utilities in several U.S. states, natural
gas pipelines, and Britain's Northern Powergrid. Berkshire owns
89.9 percent of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and the unit accounts
for 9 percent of the Omaha, Nebraska-based parent's profit.
In his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders on Saturday,
Buffett said the unit's "outstanding performances explain why
BHE is welcomed by regulators when it proposes to buy a utility
in their jurisdiction."
Buffett's compensation is expected to be disclosed in March.
His 2014 compensation totaled $464,011, including his usual
$100,000 salary. Buffett is the world's third-richest person,
according to Forbes magazine.