NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The recession is not hurting the paychecks of some of the Tennessee Valley Authority's top executives, who are cashing six-figure bonus checks.

Video: TVA Execs Cash 6-Figure Bonus Checks

According to federal documents, the CEO of TVA, Tom Kilgore, makes $655,000 a year. In addition to his salary, he received an incentive bonus of more than $1 million for 2008, bringing his total income to $2.4 million.

TVA's chief financial officer, Kimberly Green, earned a salary of $503,000 in 2008 and received a bonus of $493,000, which made for an income of $1.3 million.

William McCollum, the chief operating officer, earned $726,000, with a $751,000 bonus, for a total of $1.8 million.

The Christmas lights are rationed at the Hamptons' house in Murfreesboro: one hour a day. They lowered the heat, too, from 68 to 66 degrees.

Franklin Hampton said the rationing is because TVA raised electric rates 20 percent this year and tacked on a surcharge, amounting to $32 this month for the Hamptons.

"I'm on short-term disability because of knee surgery," said Hampton. "Thirty bucks means a lot."

The surcharge is a fee passed along by TVA to cover the cost of power they had to buy during the hot, dry summer.

TVA awarded the incentives because the executives met certain performance goals.

"Must be nice," Hampton said. "Now I know where my $32 a month is going to."

The bonuses come at a time when more people across the state are increasingly having difficulty paying their electric bills because of the downturn in the economy.

"I wish there were someone, a congressman or someone, that would go to the government and say, 'TVA is doing us wrong. They're taking our money and sticking it in their pocket,'" Hampton said.

In a news release, TVA said its operating revenues were up 11 percent in 2008. It said that's mostly because of the increases in electric rates and fuel cost adjustments.

TVA said its studies show that TVA executives are paid less on average than the CEOs at other major power companies.