There is new, local leadership for RG&E and NYSEG, which parent company Avangrid says should ensure customer needs are central to the priorities of each utility.
Rochester Gas & Electric as well as New York State Electric and Gas have been overseen by a single president and CEO in Patricia Nilsen. Effective Thursday, each now has its own president, who will report to Nilsen.
This new layer of local leadership and oversight is in response to recommendations from a state audit of the utilities' management and operations that criticized what it saw as a near total absence of local decision-making.
The state Public Service Commission announced Thursday it had levied more than $20 million in penalties against both utilities for failing to meet customer service performance metrics in 2024. The penalties or "negative revenue adjustments" were doubled because both had also failed to meet targets the year before. The penalties "reduce shareholder earnings, and are automatically credited to customers under each utility's respective rate plan or deferred until the next rate case," according to a statement from the commission.
In a news release, Avangrid said the new positions "align with a more jurisdictional model, providing direct, local leadership at each operating company."
Al Langland, Avangrid senior vice president of gas operations, is taking the reins at RG&E. While Marc Geaumont is the new president at NYSEG, joining the company from Northline Utilities, a utility construction firm headquartered in Onondaga County.
In other news, the Public Service Commission approved what it described as urgent infrastructure projects for both utilities to support electric vehicle charging capacity and building electrification. RG&E’s would benefit the town of Penfield. While NYSEG’s project is in the North Country.
