Session 4: Changing the Plane Engines while In-Flight: Navigating the Clean Energy Future

Frank A. Cuomo is the Director of Commodity Operations at Con Edison, where he oversees a substantial annual portfolio of approximately $500 million. He began his engineering career in the consulting industry before joining Con Edison in 2011. Over the years, he has held various positions within Con Edison Steam Operations, including project manager and general manager. Frank is a NYS Licensed Professional Engineer, a graduate of Manhattan College School of Engineering, and holds an MBA from the Baruch Zicklin School of Business. He has also served as an adjunct professor at NYU Shack Institute of Real Estate.

Frank's expertise lies in customer energy use and system design. He has collaborated with numerous customers, stakeholders, and industry partners to explore paths towards a Clean Energy Future. Notably, he led the Future of Renewable Steam Team (FIRST), a company initiative focused on decarbonization efforts.

As a subject matter expert in Steam Operations and customer building systems, Frank is known for his ability to cultivate positive relationships with stakeholders and communicate complex business topics effectively. He has also served as Incident Commander during large-scale emergency events.

In his current role, Frank ensures the seamless procurement and scheduling of energy commodities, maintaining 24/7 operations to meet customer energy demands. His strategies in gas planning and regulatory proceedings reflect his competencies in networking, customer energy systems, and overall energy distribution, essential for steering the company towards a sustainable future

Jennifer Meisenhelder is the Associate Director of Construction at the University of Florida. She began her career in consulting where she focused on design and construction of large and complex municipal utility projects. At the University of Florida, Jennifer directed large infrastructure projects, utility planning and the operational aspects of steam and chilled water distribution, before moving to large capital construction. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Resource Management from the Pennsylvania State University, a Master of Science degree in Environmental Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark, a MBA from the University of Florida and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of Florida.

Joanna Yager is an accomplished leader in the energy industry with 18 years of technical experience. She began her journey at Con Edison as a mechanical controls engineer developing projects at the company’s steam and electric generating facilities. As a Senior System Operator responsible for operating the bulk transmission system, she thrived in dynamic environments and adapted well to new challenges. Her role as Section Manager in Gas Operations strengthened her decision-making skills by relying on data to navigate complex situations effectively. As a Project Manager in Transmission Project Development, she utilized her action-oriented leadership strength to drive results and ensure strong credibility with external stakeholders. Mentorship has become an integral component of her professional development, and she champions formal and informal employee development programs to foster a culture of continuous learning and professional growth. Joanna believes that empowering others is necessary for organizational growth and invests time in coaching, skill-building, and advancing a positive work environment. Outside of work, Joanna enjoys reading books, doing jigsaw puzzles, and spending time with her husband, son, and daughter at their home in Westchester County, NY.

Marie-Nicole Trimboli graduated from the Cooper Union with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. She began her career in the engineering consultant industry before joining Con Edison in 2012. Over the years, Marie has held various roles of increasing responsibility within Steam Operations, with the latest being Section Manager of Steam Long Range Planning. In this role, she successfully led numerous projects and initiatives focused on the decarbonization of the steam system. Marie is a licensed NYS Professional Engineer.

John Giamarino, Chief Engineer, Central Operations, Steam & Gas Engineering at Con Edison.
John joined Con Edison in 1990 as a management intern. He has held positions of increasing responsibility such as maintenance supervisor, Power Generation Maintenance – Field Operations; engineer, Fossil Power Engineering, East River Station, and Steam Engineering; and senior engineer, Steam Engineering and Project Engineering. He was also project specialist, project manager, maintenance manager, and operations manager at East River Station.
John is an experienced, customer-centric leader who knows how to create positive relationships and a culture focused on operational excellence.
John earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the State University of New York at Buffalo and Master of Business Administration in finance from Fordham University. He is a graduate of Business Academy XVIII.

Mr. Erwin leads the US Energy Consulting Services group for Ramboll and provides engineering services for commercial, industrial, municipal, and higher education clients. Mr. Erwin is also responsible for stamping and sealing drawings and reports across the 20 states where he is licensed as a professional engineer. Areas of technical specialty include district energy, decarbonization, boiler and chiller plants, HVAC systems, and renewable energy projects. Mr. Erwin is currently responsible for managing key clients, complex and critical portfolios and projects, as well as, overseeing, preparing, developing, and writing reports; investigative studies; evaluations; audits; energy master plans, decarbonization plans and assessments.

Trevor Boz, PE, LEED AP is a mechanical engineer and Principal leading PAE Engineers’ NYC office. With over 17 years of experience of innovative HVAC design, Trevor has contributed his expertise to projects in a variety of sectors such as laboratories, healthcare facilities, higher education, and industrial buildings. An adaptable leader with a keen eye for solving problems, Trevor specializes in designing energy efficient laboratories, chiller plants, heating plants, and energy recovery systems for large projects. He is an a licensed professional engineer in nine states, and is passionate about delivering simple solutions within complex designs.

Pat Gillooly is the Senior Vice President of Engineering for Vicinity Energy. In this role, he oversees the technical engineering team that leads Vicinity’s decarbonization engineering efforts, day-to-day corporate engineering needs of Vicinity’s facilities and providing support for emergent equipment, operational issues and business development opportunities that require corporate engineering support.

Prior to joining Vicinity, Mr. Gillooly served as Vice President of Technical Engineering with Veolia North America. In this position, Mr. Gillooly led a diverse group of technical experts in cogeneration, district energy, water and wastewater industries. The team provided support services for Veolia’s operations and maintenance services, design-build projects and owned assets throughout the United States and Canada. Mr. Gillooly served at Veolia as the Vice President of Operations of the Medical Area Total Energy Plant (MATEP). In this position, Mr. Gillooly was responsible for the daily operations of the plant. Before joining MATEP, he held various engineering positions at Eversource Energy (formerly NSTAR Electric).

As President and Chief Executive Officer, Kevin oversees day-to-day business operations with the leadership team reports of Operations, Sales and Account Management, Marketing and Communications, Human Resources, and Engineering/Information Technology. Kevin will also drive the transition to electrification and the delivery of eSteam™ across our systems and work closely with Vicinity’s Executive Chairman Bill DiCroce to continue elevating Vicinity’s position as the leader for the decarbonization of North American cities lucky enough to hold district energy systems.

In his former role as Technical Officer (CTO), Kevin oversaw the Information Technology (IT), Engineering, Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S), and Technical teams to drive technical performance and innovation and support operations. Kevin has over 20 years of experience in the power industry and had previously worked for Veolia in senior and leadership positions for nearly 10 years.

Kevin’s most recent role at Veolia was serving as senior vice president of operations for Veolia North America’s (VNA) East business. Appointed in 2018, Kevin was responsible for VNA’s largest region of business, overseeing over 50 facilities, including the company’s largest district energy systems: Boston and Philadelphia.

He graduated from the United States Merchant Marine Academy with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering. He also achieved an MBA from Boston University.