Tom Falcone, ex-LIPA CEO, named president of Large Public Power Council

Former LIPA chief executive officer Tom Falcone has taken the top job at a national organization of large public-power utilities.

Falcone, who spent a decade at LIPA in leadership posts, including president and finance chief, on Tuesday was named president of the Large Public Power Council, a Washington, D.C.-based not-for-profit advancing the interests of the nation’s biggest public power utilities. Falcone resigned as president and chief executive of LIPA in March, months after Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed a new chairwoman and her first slate of board members.

Falcone, in an interview, called his tenure at LIPA a "great and interesting job," one that helped focus his energies on the needs of large public power utilities. LIPA is a member of the council and Falcone had been chair of its board before leaving LIPA. "I’ve been involved a long time" in public power issues, he said.

At the Large Public Power Council, Falcone will work with the organization’s 29 utilities and their leadership to advance interests in Washington and their operations at home. He’ll meet with lawmakers, federal agencies and member utilities to "help utilities achieve their agendas" and advance best practices in their operations.

Falcone, who lives with his family on Long Island and is a former investment banker, was replaced at LIPA by former state Public Service Commission chairman John Rhodes, who remains in the post in an interim role. Rhodes is currently overseeing LIPA as it reviews new bidders for the contract to manage the utility as PSEG's contract expires next year.

As finance chief Falcone led the utility through several upgrades of LIPA’s credit rating even as its debt expanded to more than $10 billion. He was CEO when LIPA voted to initiate the nation’s first utility-scale offshore wind farm in federal waters, which began producing power in December.

Falcone also piloted LIPA at a time of potential transition as the state Legislature moved to shift LIPA to a fully public power model after decades of operating as a public utility whose operations are managed by an outside investor-owned utility. Only Puerto Rico operates its utility in that way, and critics say it has hobbled LIPA.

But the public-power legislation, which was never publicly backed by Hochul or the state Senate, died a slow death in the legislature this spring, after years of PSEG lobbying against it, and opposition from groups such as the Long Island Association. Labor, which would have won a seat on LIPA’s board for the first time had the bill passed, also never got behind it.

In a statement Falcone said he looked forward to “ working closely with policymakers to overcome the obstacles hindering the development of critical energy infrastructure," including reforming the nation’s permitting process for utility projects.

"Our sector is undergoing a great deal of change," Falcone said in the statement. "The electrification of the economy, new data centers and advanced manufacturing centers, and the rapid addition of renewables to the grid are reshaping public power in real time. We are committed to ensuring the reliability of the grid while supporting the clean energy transition and maintaining affordable prices for consumers."

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.