Congressman Paul D. Tonko

Paul Tonko has gained a national reputation as an expert on energy and utility issues.  From 1992 to June 2007, Paul served as chairman of the New York State Assembly Standing Committee on Energy.  In April of 2007, Paul was called upon by the United States Congress to provide expert testimony before the Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, in relation to the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  In 2007 he was awarded the Solar Leadership Award by the New York Solar Energy Industries Association. 

In June of 2007, Paul was appointed President and CEO of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) by the NYSERDA Board of Directors.  On April 26, 2008 he resigned his position in order to actively campaign for New York’s 21st Congressional District.  Prior to his appointment at NYSERDA and during his tenure in the New York State Assembly, which ran from 1983-2007, Paul was a strong voice for responsible energy policy, job growth in Upstate New York, unionized labor and affordable and accessible healthcare. 

Paul is an advocate for a “green economy” and “green-collar jobs”, whose development he sees as critical to our nation’s economic wellbeing.  At NYSERDA, Paul promoted wind development in Upstate New York and successfully lobbied GE to locate their growing GE Wind operations in Schenectady, NY.  In the New York State Assembly, Paul was a lead sponsor of the Power for Jobs program, which provides low cost power to employers throughout New York State and has retained or created 300,000 jobs statewide.   In 2006, Paul successfully negotiated for Beechnut to continue operating their plant in Montgomery County as well as expand their operations to move their corporate headquarters there.  The new Beechnut headquarters will be a green building and retain 356 jobs while creating another 135.

As age 26, Paul was the youngest person in the history of Montgomery County to be elected to the county’s Board of Supervisors.  He served as chairman of that body until 1981.  Prior to his election to the Assembly in 1983, Paul was an engineer in the New York State Department of Transportation and also served on the staff of the Department of Public Service.  Paul has been a longtime member of the Public Employees Federation (PEF) and looks forward to becoming the first PEF member elected to Congress. 

Paul graduated from Clarkson University with a degree in mechanical and industrial engineering.  He is a lifelong resident of the city of Amsterdam, New York.