Shortly after Jane Solnick was appointed director of Westchester public affairs for ConEdison in 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit. “Storm debris, huge tree limbs, cracked utility poles, and power lines were scattered everywhere,” remembers Solnick. “The unprecedented storm left 95 percent of the county’s electric customers without power, and immediately I became a ‘go-to’ person, providing critical details and updates to our constituents regarding the storm’s impact and what we were doing to safely restore service.”
Every day is certainly not this challenging for Solnick. But her job does keep her on her toes. ConEdison serves about 348,000 electric customers and 250,000 gas customers in Westchester, and Solnick’s job is to continually keep them informed. If there is a storm, she works with elected officials and municipal staff to make and communicate a plan. If ConEdison wants to adopt new technologies, she makes the case to the public.
Another part of her job is launching and implementing philanthropic ventures within the community, like a recent project constructing homes for veterans on behalf of Habitat for Humanity. “The wonderful part of our work is that each day varies,” she says. “It’s never the same.”
Solnick has been building strong relationships throughout her career. She has served as vice president of the Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce and worked for 15 years in business development in the engineering industry.
