Con Ed CEO speaks at York College

Con Ed CEO Kevin Burke told a packed audience at York College’s first Executive Leadership Breakfast of the school year about different ways businesses and homeowners can save energy and money by utilizing some of the latest technology on the market.
Burke, who has been at Con Ed for 34 years, gave the keynote speech on Friday, October 5 to an audience comprised of business leaders, city and state politicians, community representatives as well as York College students and faculty members.
Burke spoke about customers, both residential and business owners, saving on their energy bills by making energy-efficient improvements, including replacing older appliances with Energy Star-qualified ones.
“We need to preserve the environment,” Burke said. “I think there’s more that everyone can do whether at home or in their business.”
During the meeting, Burke also responded to a question about the continued development currently taking place throughout the city, particularly in Queens, as well as what preparations the utility company was making to combat the growth.
“We don’t want to in any way restrict that [the growth],” Burke said. “In some cases, it’s helping people use energy more wisely and in other cases it will be [investing in the delivery infrastructure].”
Burke said that he expects the company to spend $2 billion throughout the city on improvements this year.
Dr. Marcia Keizs, President of York College, also spoke about the college’s top-notch freshman class of 1,017 freshmen, the most in 10 years, including students enrolling for the first time from 72 new high schools.
“Now, we’re back in numbers and quality,” Keizs said.
In addition, Eileen Auld, Vice President and Director of Community Relations for Citibank in Queens, who was the main sponsor of the breakfast, talked about Citibank’s commitment to the Queens community.
Borough President Helen Marshall, State Senator Shirley Huntley and City Councilmember James Sanders also attended the breakfast.