As of April, the Raleigh electric utility will no longer provide its top nine executives with such extras as complimentary country club dues, personal and spousal travel on the corporate jet, airline club memberships and event tickets that are not related to business.

The company's board approved the change this week, according to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last year, Progress Energy eliminated free car washes for its executives.

Some perks, such as insurance and Internet service, are related to work. Others are status symbols and conveniences that executives have come to expect -- and they are increasingly seen as signs of corporate excess.

In Progress Energy's executive ranks, where the top annual salary approaches $1 million, the value of perks can exceed what many people bring home in a year. In recent years, the value of annual perks has exceeded $60,000.

Progress Energy isn't eliminating all the goodies. Top executives, including CEO Bill Johnson, still get a grab bag of freebies: financial and estate planning, tax preparation services, luncheon club dues, health club dues, executive physical, Internet and telecommunications access, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, and home security systems.

The company discontinued some perks based on a periodic review of executive pay practices across Fortune 500 corporations, spokesman David McNeill said.

Executive compensation experts say publicly traded corporations are worried about appearances. As the SEC has required more detailed disclosure of how much executives are paid, companies are forced to reveal perks that prove embarrassing or controversial.

"Sooner or later they have to say, 'How much are we spending on our executive echelon that's unnecessary and extravagant?' " said E. James Brennan of the ERI Economic Research Institute in Redmond, Wash.

But Brennan noted that the executives never go hurting.

"If you're not getting it in one place, you're getting it in another," he said. "The more cash you get, usually the fewer perks you require. The fewer stock options you get, the more perks you demand."