September 20, 2024
GIL QUINIONES
TRUSTEE, CIVIC FEDERATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Number of years with the Federation: 2
Day job: President/CEO, ComEd
Gil Quiniones leads ComEd, an Exelon company, which powers the lives of more than 4 million residential and business customers in Chicago and across most of northern Illinois. He is responsible for the management of an electric grid that delivers safe, reliable electricity to those customers and for empowering them to manage their energy use.
Under Quiniones’ leadership, ComEd was named the most reliable utility in America by PA Consulting, based on analysis of system reliability statistics, including the frequency and duration of customer outages. With over 6,300 employees, ComEd is one of the largest employers in the region, maintaining numerous workforce and education partnerships with the diverse communities it serves.
Before joining ComEd, Quiniones served more than a decade as president and CEO of the New York Power Authority (NYPA), the nation’s largest state-owned electric utility. Under his leadership, NYPA played a key role in New York State’s Reforming the Energy Vision initiative to use market forces and new technology to empower customers and encourage the growth of clean renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Before joining NYPA in 2007, Quiniones held several positions in the administration of New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, including more than four years as senior vice president of energy and telecommunications. He started his career at Consolidated Edison (Con Edison), one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies and an electric and gas utility serving parts of southeastern New York and northern New Jersey, including New York City. He worked for 16 years at Con Edison, where he cofounded Con Edison Solutions, the utility’s unregulated energy services company.
In June 2024, Quiniones was named to the Board of Directors for Intersect Illinois, a leading economic development organization, promoting the state as a location for investment by businesses. In July 2024 he was named to the board of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, which is working to address food insecurity in the metropolitan region. He is the Co-Chair of the Corporate Coalition of Chicago, dedicated to addressing racial and economic inequities in the city.
Quiniones also serves on Civic Federation Board of Trustees, the board of World Business Chicago and the board of the Illinois Utilities Business Diversity Council (IUBDC). He is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago and the Economic Club of Chicago.
In August 2022, President Joseph Biden named Quiniones to the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Board, which advises the White House on how to reduce physical and cyber risks and improve the security and resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure sectors.
In past years, Quiniones has served as a board member for a number of leading energy industry organizations including the Alliance to Save Energy, GridWise Alliance and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
Quinones attended De La Salle University in the Philippines where he received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He has performed graduate coursework in engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology. He has completed the Executive Education Program at Columbia Business School and the CEO Academy at The Wharton School. Quiniones earned the Corporate Director Certificate at Harvard Business School’s Executive Education program.
You went to college in the Philippines, where you studied mechanical engineering. Did you grow up in the Philippines as well? How has your upbringing factored into your career, civic direction and commitments?
I was born in Ames, Iowa, during a time when my parents were both performing research at Iowa State University as part of an exchange program with the University of Philippines. At the conclusion of that program, in 1970, our family moved back to the Philippines, which is where I spent most of my childhood. I graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering from De La Salle University in Manila. Shortly after I graduated, my father retired, and we moved to the New York City metropolitan area, where my older sister was living. I took a job at Consolidated Edison, known as ConEd, the state’s regulated utility, based in Westchester County, just north of the city, working with customers on energy efficiency measures. As a wave of deregulation began to sweep across the utility industry in the late 1990s, I joined a team that oversaw the restructuring of ConEd, and I ultimately became the co-founder of ConEd Solutions, an unregulated energy services provider with operations such as wholesale electricity, natural gas marketing and energy trading.
By that time, I had formed a deep affinity with New York City – its cultural attractions, the abundance of opportunity, the hustle and grit of its people. So when the 9/11 attacks happened, I was heartbroken – and I became determined to do my part to restore New York to its former glory. I joined the staff of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, working for over four years as his energy and infrastructure advisor. More than any other, that experience deepened my appreciation for how the power lines, energy supplies and transportation systems are foundational components – not just for the economy of the nation’s largest city but also for making connections that give the city its unique identity and its sense of community.
Today you serve as president and CEO of ComEd, the largest electric utility provider in Illinois. Prior to joining ComEd in 2021, you spent 14 years with the New York Power Authority, including 10 years serving as NYPA’s president and CEO. What do you find most exciting about working in energy, and what aspects of this work are most challenging?
Electricity is the oxygen of a city’s economy. Without electricity, everything stops. The challenge of sustaining a service that is indispensable to virtually every person in a community has always appealed to me. It’s a huge responsibility – but it’s also a great privilege, one that brings out the best in me and my colleagues at ComEd. Today is an especially exciting, dynamic time to work in an electric utility: We play a leading role in the clean energy transition, supporting renewables as they grow their share of the energy system and as more families adopt electric vehicles, electric appliances and distributed energy resources like rooftop solar. We enable the decarbonizing of multiple economic sectors. And we are a catalyst for economic growth, given how important reliable electricity is to attract new businesses to the region.
In January 2023, ComEd released a 2030 roadmap for advancing a low-carbon energy future for northern Illinois and ensuring under-resourced communities are prioritized in the region’s clean energy transition. Could you tell us more about the initiatives underway and how climate change and equity factor into planning?
ComEd 2030 is a vision that guides the investments we make in critical infrastructure and customer programs, in light of the economic-, energy- and climate-related challenges we face in northern Illinois. During a pivotal moment in society, it’s our way of showing customers and partners what we’re doing to meet the moment.
The plan is designed to advance policy goals contained within Illinois’ landmark Climate and Equitable Jobs Act, known as CEJA. It outlines how ComEd’s grid will enable economy-wide decarbonization. It puts flexibility and resiliency at the core of the service, so that we can foster the growth of distributed energy sources like electric vehicles, rooftop solar installations and battery storage. The plan relies on technology to deliver efficiency and productivity that will ensure our service remains highly affordable. It will help our customers to make cleaner energy choices simply and intuitively. And finally, the plan envisions all the ways our service can be a catalyst for equity, such that the benefits of the clean energy transition are felt broadly and deeply across the communities we serve.
Everybody deserves clean air and access to safe, reliable, affordable energy – but especially those communities that have been historically under-resourced. So ComEd’s 2030 plan includes a range of programs aimed at creating opportunities for people in those communities to capitalize on the emerging clean energy economy.
This summer it was announced that a new, massive quantum computing campus will be built at the US Steel South Works site in Chicago. What are the implications of this from an energy perspective? What will ComEd's role be in helping bring this campus to life in our city?
Power is a critical component for quantum computing – and ComEd will be delivering it. Our nation-leading reliability was certainly a factor in the decision by PsiQuantum, the anchor tenant, to locate in this region. ComEd has been engaged with PsiQuantum, the State of Illinois, and the City of Chicago from the earliest stages of the project including advising on potential locations throughout the metro area. The development of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park meets ComEd’s broader goal of promoting innovation, economic growth and job creation in northern Illinois. Quantum computing is an exciting technology with the potential to achieve breakthroughs across a wide range of industries, including energy. At ComEd, we are very proud to do our part to position northern Illinois as a destination for cutting edge technology.
What’s your favorite Chicago hidden gem?
Being Filipino American, I love Kasama in West Town, but with its Michelin star and the challenge finding a seat for brunch or getting reservations for dinner, I suppose it’s not exactly a “hidden” gem! I’m fond of art-house theaters, and so I enjoy seeing shows at the Music Box. It’s fun to stroll Lincoln Park – especially the area around the zoo. It seems as though no matter where you live in the city, there are fun places that are a short walk – or a short drive – away. Another thing I love about living in Chicago.
What hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?
I enjoy playing acoustic guitar, and I have been taking lessons to improve my golf game. I’m a big sports fan in general, and I’ve found Chicago teams are especially contagious -- I’ve become a Bears fan, and Wrigley Field is one of the most beautiful, iconic stadiums in all of sports. Despite a busy schedule, I always find time to go to those games with friends, family and colleagues.