Governor Cuomo Recommends Appointment of Tom Falcone as Chief Executive Officer of LIPA
Albany, NY - March 15, 2016 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced his recommendation to appoint Tom Falcone as Chief Executive Officer of the Long Island Power Authority. Mr. Falcone currently serves as LIPA’s Chief Financial Officer. The members of the LIPA Board of Trustees are expected to vote on the appointment of Mr. Falcone as CEO at their next scheduled board meeting on March 21st.
“As Chief Financial Officer, Tom Falcone has helped place LIPA on a solid financial footing by putting customers first and improving rate stability and affordability for Long Island's residents," said Governor Cuomo. “Tom's leadership has played an integral role in building a more resilient, reliable electric grid on Long Island and he has proven himself to be a responsible steward for LIPA. I am proud to recommend his appointment as the Authority’s next CEO.”
Selected through a competitive search process, Mr. Falcone first joined LIPA as Chief Financial Officer on January 21, 2014, overseeing the financial activities of the organization, including its accounting, budgeting, debt issuance, rates, risk management, and strategic planning. In his capacity as CFO, Mr. Falcone has improved LIPA's credit rating outlooks, reduced the cost to service LIPA’s debt, and managed a successful and transparent rate case for Long Island customers.
Richard Kauffman, Chairman of Energy and Finance, New York State, said: “From concluding a successful rate case proceeding to overseeing significant upgrades and improvements to the electric grid, Tom Falcone has shown he has the leadership qualities and experience to lead LIPA for the benefit of its customers.”
"I am honored to have the support of Governor Cuomo and his administration to serve as LIPA’s next CEO,” said Tom Falcone. “Under the Governor's leadership, our organization has made significant progress in improving service and stabilizing costs as we build a cleaner, more resilient and affordable power grid for all Long Islanders. I am excited to further these efforts on behalf of our customers.”
Under the LIPA Reform Act, passed by the Legislature after Superstorm Sandy in 2013, LIPA has improved its operations and lowered its financing costs by an estimated $375 million over the last two years ending 2015, saving customers $1 billion over the next five years.
Specifically, under the LIPA Reform Act, the Authority has:
- Successfully concluded the most open and transparent electric rate setting process in decades with significant public participation and independent oversight from the newly created New York Department of Public Service – Long Island office.
- Approved a record $2 billion infrastructure investment plan for the next three years to improve the reliability and resilience of electric service for customers.
- Continued investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and initiatives consistent with Governor Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision, including the approval of 190 MWs of renewable energy projects on Long Island, which are now in various stages of environmental permitting and construction.
- Raised LIPA’s credit ratings, lowered LIPA’s interest rates, and stabilized costs related to servicing LIPA’s debt with an ongoing refinancing program that has saved customers $425 million.
- Invested in a modern storm outage management system, vastly improving the ability of PSEG-Long Island, the operating utility, to track and respond to outages and communicate with customers.
- Secured a federal grant to fund 90 percent of a $730 million storm hardening program to improve the Long Island electric system’s storm resiliency and flood mitigation while minimizing cost for Long Island customers.
As a public power utility, LIPA is a not-for-profit entity, formed, owned and operated for the benefit of Long Island residents and businesses, a structure that saves the region over $400 million per year in electric rates.
Prior to LIPA, Mr. Falcone spent his professional career at Morgan Stanley where he served as an investment banker and a strategic advisor engaged in municipal and utility finance. Mr. Falcone was a Nelson Scholar at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania where he received his Bachelor of Science in Economics with concentrations in Finance and Public Policy Management.