Executive Staff
Executive Staff
Meet the Executive Staff of the Long Island Power Authority.
John D. McMahon, Chief Operating Officer
John D. McMahon was appointed chief operating officer of the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) in April, 2013. Mr. McMahon joins LIPA with over 37 years of utility experience. Mr. McMahon has served in various positions at Con Ed, including 13 years in top management positions such as Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Executive Vice President and six years as President and Chief Executive Officer of Con Ed’s wholly owned subsidiary, Orange & Rockland Utilities, Inc. (“O&R”), an electric and gas utility based in Pearl River, New York. O&R, along with its two utility subsidiaries, Rockland Electric Company and Pike County Light & Power Co., provide electric and gas service in seven counties in New York, northern New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania. Prior to joining LIPA, McMahon has been serving on various industry boards and working as a utility consultant. Mr. McMahon is a Graduate of Manhattan College and New York Law School and completed the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School.
Michael J. Taunton, Chief Financial Officer
Michael J. Taunton is LIPA’s Chief Financial Officer. He has responsibility for all electric utility operations of the Authority. In addition, he has overall responsibility for the financial stewardship of LIPA. His role requires managing not only LIPA senior management, but also major external relationships, including LIPA’s Board of Trustees, rating agencies, investors and other State and Federal entities.
Prior to joining LIPA, Mr. Taunton was Vice President and Treasurer for Arrow Electronics, a $20 billion+ global distributor of electronic components and enterprise computing solution. In addition, he has over 30 years of business experience in the energy industry with KeySpan Corporation, where he last served as Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Risk Officer.
Mr. Taunton earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting at St. Francis College and an MBA in Finance at Adelphi University. He also completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School and the Public Utility Executive Program at the University of Michigan.
Michael Deering, Vice President of Environmental Affairs
Michael Deering joined the Long Island Power Authority in November, 2007 as LIPA’s first Vice President for Environmental Affairs. Mr. Deering oversees the Authority’s energy efficiency and renewable technology programs. In addition, Mr. Deering is a lead member of the LIPA-PSEG transition team where he will play a major role on how LIPA transitions to its new service provider beginning January 1, 2014.
Mr. Deering brings over 25 years of environmental and energy experience to LIPA having served as Vice President of Government Affairs for the Long Island Association, the region’s largest business and civic organization. Prior to the Long Island Association, he served as the first Commissioner of Suffolk County’s Department of Environment and Energy where he helped plan for and incorporated energy efficiency and renewables into its facilities including LEEDS legislation, created the County’s initial Clean Energy Action Plan, and helped to overhaul and administered the county’s open space and farmland preservation programs. Prior to his tenure with the County, he served first as Legislative Director for the New York State Legislative Commission on Water Resource Needs of Long Island and later as Chief of Staff for New York State Assemblyman Thomas P. DiNapoli.
LIPA’s energy efficiency and renewable programs continue to thrive under Deering’s leadership. Mr. Deering was instrumental in the creation and implementation of a 32MW solar farm, which is hosted on the property of Brookhaven National Laboratory, solar carports on county-owned properties, the Clean Sun Initiative which is the first solar feed-in tariff in the state of New York, and Efficiency Long Island, one of the most ambitious energy efficiency programs in the country. These programs continue to position LIPA as a national leader in the advancement of energy efficiency and renewable technologies.
Mr. Deering has crafted and negotiated legislative measures to protect and preserve open space, remediate properties , protect the island's underground drinking water supply and water resources surrounding the island and throughout the state, and to address the public health implications of pesticides.
Michael Deering has served on the Board of Directors of the Suffolk County Water Authority, the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, the State Board of Environmental Advocates, Long Island Board of the New York State League of Conservation Voters as well as a number of local, regional and state technical and policy committees.
Kenneth Kane, Vice President of Finance
Kenneth Kane joined the Authority in 1999 as its Director of Financial Reporting. Prior to joining the Authority, Mr. Kane held the position of Manager of Regulatory and Financial Reporting for LILCO. Prior to this, Mr. Kane held positions at Mitchell Hutchins Institutional Investors and Ernst & Young, LLP. Mr. Kane is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of New York, is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, holds a B.A. from Pace University and a MBA in Finance from Hofstra University.
Paul DeCotis, Vice President of Power Markets
Paul DeCotis is Vice President of Power Markets at Long Island Power Authority where he oversees strategic resource planning; fuel, energy and capacity purchases and sales; power project development and management; and participation in the region’s wholesale power markets. Prior to this Paul was Deputy Secretary for Energy in New York, serving as senior energy advisor to Governor Spitzer and Governor Paterson. Paul was also Chair of the State Energy Planning Board.
Paul previously served as Director of Energy Analysis for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority where he oversaw corporate strategy and planning, forecasting and analysis, and energy program evaluation. Prior to this, Paul was Chief of Policy at the State Energy Office. Until his appointment as Deputy Secretary, Paul was President of a management consulting business, specializing in executive and Board development, strategy, and mediation. Since 1985, he has served as an adjunct faculty member at several colleges and universities including Cornell University, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Sage Graduate School.
Paul is a member of the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC; Board member of US Offshore Wind Collaborative; Board member of the Clean Energy States Alliance; Editorial Board member of the Energy Efficiency Journal; Executive Committee member of the New York State Reliability Council; New York’s representative to the Eastern Interconnection States Planning Council, and a member of Montclair Publishing LLC. “Who’s Who in North America” among other boards and committees. Paul has served on and chaired many professional organizations and associations and has extensive community service experience. Paul has published dozens of articles and professional papers on energy and industry matters.
Paul received his Bachelor of Arts in International Business Management from the State University College at Brockport, his Master of Arts in Economics from the University at Albany, and his Master of Business Administration in Finance from the Sage Graduate School at Russell Sage College.
Nicholas J. Lizanich, Vice President of Transmission and Distribution Operations
Mr. Lizanich is the Vice President of Transmission and Distribution Operations for the Long island Power Authority. He is responsible for the oversight of the planning, engineering, design, operation, construction and maintenance of the transmission and distribution systems for LIPA, which serves 1.1 million customers on Long Island. Prior to joining LIPA, Mr. Lizanich held a variety of key positions at other major utilities including First Energy where he served as the Vice President of Asset Oversight and Commonwealth Edison/Exelon, where he served as the Vice President of Engineering and Planning. In addition to working directly for utilities for 30+ years in Energy Delivery, Mr. Lizanich was also Senior Vice President of Operations at Patrick Engineering for a number of years, where he developed the utility services practice for Patrick and led the Company’s engineering and consulting groups.
Mr. Lizanich has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering, both from Cleveland State University in Ohio. He is also a registered Professional Engineer.
Ms. Donna Mongiardo is LIPA's Controller of the
Authority.
Lynda Nicolino, General Counsel and Secretary
Ms. Nicolino joined the Authority in June 1999 in the position of Assistant General Counsel. In April 2007, the Board appointed her Acting General Counsel of the Authority, which was followed by her March 2008 appointment as General Counsel and Secretary. Prior to joining the Authority, Ms. Nicolino supervised and managed the Suffolk Regional Office for the New York State Attorney General for nearly four years during her tenure as Assistant Attorney General In Charge. Prior to her work with the New York State Attorney General, she worked both for a private law firm and as an Assistant District Attorney in Suffolk County. Ms. Nicolino graduated from Stony Brook University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and received a Juris Doctor from Hofstra University Law School.
