After a decade of service, Tom Falcone will step down from his role as CEO of the Long Island Power Authority and the Utility Debt Securitization Authority at the end of May, he said in a March 18 letter to Tracey Edwards, Chair of LIPA’s Board of Trustees, and Robert Gurman, Acting Chair of the Utility Debt Securitization Authority. The Utility Debt Securitization Authority issues triple-A-rated securitization bonds on LIPA’s behalf.
“It has been an extraordinary journey, both challenging and rewarding, in seeking to be the electric utility our customers deserve,” Falcone said in the letter.
Falcone joined LIPA in 2014 as Chief Financial Officer and became CEO in 2015. He also serves as Chair of the Large Public Power Council and on the board of the American Public Power Association.
"Serving the great State of New York and our 1.2 million customers across Long Island and the Rockaways has been an honor and a privilege,” Falcone said in a statement sent to Public Power Current. “I am incredibly proud of what we've accomplished over the past decade and, most importantly, being the electric utility our customers truly deserve."
In the letter, Falcone details the accomplishments that have occurred during his time as CEO.
He specifically highlighted accomplishments in:
- Setting a Vision, including top 10% reliability, top 25% customer satisfaction, and competitive electric rates
- Reliability and Resiliency, including a record $6.4 billion investment in the electric grid that reduced power outages 37%
- Fiscal Sustainability, including four credit rating upgrades and a 25% reduction in LIPA’s debt-to-asset ratio
- Clean Energy, including the nation’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm, a $3.3 billion investment in Long Island’s transmission grid to integrate clean energy, and a 2023 integrated resources plan to reduce LIPA’s carbon emissions 70% by 2030
- Affordability, including hundreds of millions of dollars of cost reductions per year and over $2 billion of federal grants
- Accountability for Performance, including renegotiating LIPA’s service provider contract in April 2022
- Transparency for LIPA Stakeholders, including candid communications to customers and awards from the APPA for outstanding communications and community service
- LIPA’s People and Culture, including employee engagement scores among the top 10% of employers.
Former LIPA vice chairman Mark Fischl called Falcone’s departure a “sad day for Long Island,” noting when the two worked together over nearly a decade, Falcone was known to put in 60- to 80-hour work weeks. “For him every decision was for the benefit of ratepayers.”
“The next leader of LIPA will navigate the clean energy transition while maintaining reliability, affordability, fiscal sustainability, and the expiration of our service provider contract in December 2025. The task ahead is enormously complex and will require the total commitment of a knowledgeable and experienced chief executive and team,” Falcone said in the letter.
