Francis J. Murray Jr.

Mr. Murray is a nationally recognized expert on energy and environmental policy, having worked in this arena for over forty years.

Mr. Murray currently acts as an adviser/consultant to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) where he focuses on energy efficiency and renewable energy, implementation of various aspects of New York’s Reforming Energy Vision (REV), and the activities of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). He has held this position for nearly a decade.

Mr. Murray served from 2009 to 2013 as the President and Chief Executive (CEO) of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), a quasi-governmental public authority with an annual budget of over $800 million. During his tenure, Mr. Murray oversaw the launch of the New York Sun and the Green Jobs Green New York programs. He also was responsible for the administration and obligation of New York’s allocation of economic stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.

Mr. Murray chaired the State Energy Planning Board and served as a member of the New York State Environmental Board. He was a founding board member of both the New York Smart Grid Consortium and the New York State Battery and Energy Storage Consortium (NY-BEST).

Prior to accepting Governor Patterson’s offer to return to State government as President & CEO at NYSERDA, Mr. Murray served as a strategic adviser and/or consultant to several organizations, including the international environmental consulting firm Ecology & Environment, Inc;, First Fuel Software, an analytics firm focused on building energy efficiency; Ballard Power Systems (fuel cells); Acadia Windpower (offshore wind); and the Open Space Institute.

During the Obama Administration, Mr. Murray chaired the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s State Energy Advisory Board (STEAB) and co-chaired the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Residential Energy Efficiency Retrofit Working Group.

From 1996 to 1997, Mr. Murray was a policy adviser to the United States Secretary of Energy Hazel O’Leary, assisting in the development of the Clinton Administration’s national energy policy.

Mr. Murray served from 1992 to 1994 as Commissioner of Energy for New York State and Chair of the NYSERDA Board of Directors, then a statutory responsibility of the State Energy Commissioner. At that time, he also served as Chair of the State Energy Planning Board, a multi-agency board responsible for developing a comprehensive, integrated energy plan for New York.