9 top LIPA officials made $300,000 or more in base pay in 2025

Nine LIPA officials in 2025 had base salaries of $300,000 or more, and one topped $400,000, although a year of legal turmoil and management change meant that only four were around long enough to earn their full base pay.

In addition, LIPA in 2025 had 25 employees whose base pay was between $200,000 and $300,000, a jump from the prior year, when 21 had base salaries in that range, according to figures Newsday received under state Freedom of Information Law. 

The analysis comes as LIPA in 2025 replaced an interim chief with a permanent CEO, terminated two officers who’d led a contentious internal review for a new grid-management company, and began a hiring spree.

LIPA in a statement noted its total head count as of Jan. 1 had dropped to 75 full-time employees, of whom six earned more than $300,000.

"LIPA’s compensation remains competitive and appropriate given the complex operational, financial, and regulatory responsibilities of the authority," the authority said.

The highest paid LIPA official in 2025 was Werner Schweiger, the former interim chief operating officer with decades of experience, including at the former Long Island Lighting Co., whose base salary was $410,429, according to the data.

Schweiger, whose take-home salary was $416,157.71, was forced out at the end of 2025 after the company eliminated his position. He’d been hired as a senior adviser under former LIPA chief Tom Falcone, who resigned in 2024. Schweiger’s base salary was $396,550 in 2024.

Carrie Meek Gallagher, who previously was Long Island director of the Department of Public Service, had a base salary last year of $363,250, a significant jump from her prior job at DPS, where she was paid $207,762 in 2024, her last full year of pay for her former post.

LIPA’s finance chief Donna Mongiardo was the second-highest paid executive at the authority last year, with a base salary of $386,250, according to the figures. Her actual pay came in at $394,183. 

LIPA’s chief legal officer Barbara "Bobbi" O’Connor had the third-highest base salary at $374,184, according to the figures, a 3.5% increase from $361,530 in the prior year.

Gary Stephenson, senior vice president of power supply, had a base salary of $367,787, according to LIPA figures, a jump from his prior year base of $355,350.

Billy Raley, formerly LIPA’s senior vice president of transmission and distribution, had a base salary of $365,922, but his firing last September as the company was moving forward with a PSEG Long Island contract extension reduced his actual pay for the year to $273,864.

Raley told Newsday he was fired by Meek Gallagher after he declined to weaken PSEG performance metrics in its contract, and has given testimony a state inspector general’s office investigation about alleged pressure to lower scores for Quanta Services in LIPA’s bidding process. He has filed a notice of claim signaling his attempt to sue LIPA and filed two ethics claims against the authority tied to events of 2025, Newsday has reported.

John Rhodes, the former LIPA interim chief executive who held the reins from early 2024 through July 2025, had a base salary of $363,250 last year, but brought home $212,362 before leaving the authority, according to the figures. Rhodes, a former PSC chairman, was also on the committee that "strongly" recommended Quanta Services for the contract — advice that was rejected by LIPA’s board.

Kenneth Kane, a LIPA employee since 1999, had a base salary of $341,550 in 2025 as senior vice president of investment programs. That salary is an 18% increase from $288,750 in the prior year.

LIPA’s chief information officer Gregory Flay had a base salary of $300,000 last year, after his hiring in January and helping with the transition of LIPA’s computer systems from New Jersey to Long Island.

Just over a quarter of LIPA’s employees had base salaries of between $200,000 and $300,000, including Gary Martens, newly named director of human resources. Martens previously held the post at the MTA. The base pay for Barbara Ann Dillon, the long-serving HR director who is now a senior adviser, was $265,980 in 2025.

Thomas Locascio, the one-time director of government affairs, got a boost to chief of staff and vice president of corporate affairs last year, increasing his base salary to $261,182 from the prior year's $252,350, according to LIPA figures.

Jennifer Hayen, the director of communications who left the authority at year's end, had a base salary of $207,936. LIPA has since telegraphed a plan to hire an outside firm to lead "public affairs support." The five-year contract will provide "high-level strategic public affairs, media and stakeholder engagement." Among the jobs for the contract, which specify no dollar amount, is to "define and communicate a clear, cohesive narrative that distinguishes LIPA from its service provider," which is PSEG Long Island. 

In addition to Falcone, some top-paid LIPA officials from 2024 are no longer at the authority, including former chief financial officer Dennis Anosike, whose base salary was $390,000, and former chief operating officer Mujib Lodhi, at $369,250.