August 25, 2025
It’s the first day of classes at Corning Community College and at Alfred State College. It’s also the first day of class at Alfred University where the 1988 grad Bridget Nilson, CEO of New York State Electric and Gas, gave the opening convocation recently.
FROM ALFRED UNIVERSITY: “Nilsen—with degrees in English, art, and education—discussed the non-traditional educational route she took to becoming a CEO in the energy field. The diversity of her academic coursework, and that of the positions she has held over a career in the energy industry that began in 1992, prepared her for the challenges of leading large utility companies like NYSEG and RG&E.
“After serving in Human Resources for five years, Nilsen was appointed manager of Customer Satisfaction and Outreach, a role she held for nine years before moving to Corporate Communications and Customer Service. She has served in a number of high-profile leadership roles throughout her tenure, including leading emergency preparedness response for all eight of Avangrid’s electric and natural gas companies. From 2013-16 she served as manager of Outreach and Municipal Relations and from 2016-21 she was director of Emergency Preparedness.
“She served as Avangrid’s vice president for Reliability Assurance and Emergency Preparedness—responsible for compliance with North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability standards, ensuring emergency readiness and response, and serving as the COVID business liaison officer for Avangrid Networks—before her appointment as president and CEO of RG&E and NYSEG in 2022.
“Nilsen encouraged students to explore all Alfred University has to offer, including the many intersections offered through co-curricular and extracurricular programs.
