McGrath, Eugene R. 1942–

International Directory of Business Biographies, (2005) by Peggy Daniels

Eugene R. McGrath 1942–

Chairman, chief executive officer, and president, Consolidated Edison Company of New York

Nationality: American.

Born: 1942, in Yonkers, New York.

Education: Manhattan College, BS, 1963; Iona College, MBA, 1980; Harvard University, Advanced Diploma, 1989.

Career: Consolidated Edison Company of New York, 1963–1978, engineer and management trainee; 1978–1981, vice president; 1981–1982, senior vice president; 1982–1989, executive vice president; 1989–1990, president and COO; 1990–, chairman, CEO, and president.

Awards: Leaders in Management Award, Pace University, 1997; Honorary Doctorate of Commercial Science, Pace University, 1997.

Address: Consolidated Edison Company of New York, 4 Irving Place, New York, New York 10003; http://www.coned.com.

■ Eugene McGrath was the chairman and chief executive officer of Consolidated Edison Company of New York, the largest utility in one of the largest urban metropolitan areas in the world, New York City. A native New Yorker, McGrath spent his entire professional career with Con Edison. He joined the company in 1963 immediately after receiving his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Manhattan College. McGrath started his career with Con Edison as an engineer and management trainee in the operating and customer-service divisions. Moving into management, McGrath became responsible for running fossil-fuel and nuclear power plants. He moved progressively into more responsible positions, earning a promotion to vice president in 1978; in 1981 he was made senior vice president, in 1982 executive vice president. McGrath was named president and chief operating officer in 1989 and accepted the position of chairman and chief executive officer in 1990.

Eugene R. McGrath. © Ron Sachs/Corbis .

The umbrella company Consolidated Edison supplied electric, natural gas, and steam-power services to New York City and neighboring areas of Westchester County. Energy was delivered to more than four million customers through several distribution companies, including Consolidated Edison Company of New York and Orange and Rockland Utilities. Con Edison sold its energy-generating plants in the late 1990s in the course of the restructuring of New York's electric industry; the company then became primarily focused on transmitting and distributing energy resources generated by other companies. Con Edison continued to own and operate one of the largest steam-distribution systems in the world, serving the densely populated New York City borough of Manhattan.

By more concertedly focusing Con Edison on the delivery of energy resources, McGrath laid the foundation for what was called one of the most stable and reliable electricity systems in the world. Although the sales of the generating plants were at first controversial, they were ultimately lauded as intelligent business moves that positioned Con Edison to effectively handle two major challenges that appeared in the following years.

MANAGEMENT UNDER CRISIS

On September 11, 2001, two hijacked airplanes were crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City. The true extent of the damage caused by this catastrophic attack was incalculable; thousands of lives were lost, parts of Manhattan were destroyed, and daily operations were completely shut down.

The public responses from Con Edison and from McGrath in particular were widely praised. Within weeks electricity was restored to the devastated area surrounding the World Trade Center. Rebuilding efforts moved efficiently, with destroyed substations being quickly replaced. McGrath became personally involved in the response to the crisis by contacting other corporate leaders to ask for their assistance in attempting to restore normalcy to New York. Perhaps the most important factor behind the rapid replacement of downed substations was McGrath's phone call to the head of General Electric requesting a special rush order on the needed equipment; thus, the speed of the repairs was generally attributed to McGrath's decisive leadership and personal intervention, though he pointed to overlaps in the electrical system and the training of Con Edison staff as more critical factors. He remarked upon the dedication, commitment, and bravery shown by his company's employees, publicly praising their efforts during the emergency.

Con Edison's emergency responsiveness was tested once again on August 14, 2003, when a significant portion of the eastern United States and Canada experienced a sudden and complete loss of electrical power. The cause of the blackout was unclear; it quickly spread westward as far as Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario, Canada, taking power-generating plants and distribution centers offline within minutes. Such a complete and rapid shutdown required careful and thoughtful restoration of service, and McGrath was again praised for his quick leadership in safely restoring power to all of New York City within 29 hours of the initial outage. McGrath again redirected this praise to the customer-service mindset of Con Edison employees, who activated emergency backup plans and followed established policies to restore service with no reported injuries to consumers or Con Edison staff or damage to major equipment.