PBN 2026 C-Suite Awards
ENTERPRISE PRIVATE COMPANY (More than 500 employees):
Greg Cornett
Rhode Island Energy president
Greg Cornett, president of Rhode Island Energy, believes things are worth doing well.
“I’ve tried to carry that mentality of just approaching everything with a high level of excellence,” he said. “I just always viewed it as I’m here to do a great job and I’m going to do the best job that I can, no matter what the task is that’s assigned to me.”
Cornett started out doing general litigation work for a regional law firm in Kentucky before being asked to step in on a case for a Kentucky utilities company. He eventually began to work as an in-house lawyer, and the company acquired Rhode Island Energy. A few years ago, he accepted the offer to become president of Rhode Island Energy.
Day to day, Cornett is part of strategic meetings with his team and stakeholders to talk about “broad policy-related issues to make sure that our company is playing a role in trying to help Rhode Island craft its future in the energy space,” he said.
“When the governor’s got a problem or a concern, I’m the one he’s calling,” he said. “It’s really interesting to be in this space because we are a critical infrastructure provider in the state, and then we become more so every single year because individuals and businesses are so much more reliant on very consistent, very reliable energy services.”
In the two years he’s been president, Cornett negotiated a break from National Grid ownership, dealt with severe weather challenges and navigated talking to the community about energy affordability and climate policy.
“I’m very proud of the ability to successfully separate from the National Grid system, have our own system and stand on our own,” he said. “Probably more importantly, I’m very proud of our fluidity and ability to adapt on the spot to a number of challenges that we had because nothing ever works exactly as you plan for and anticipate.”
Cornett said he would advise someone looking to get into a similar role to keep up a good work ethic.
“Open communication and transparency are key,” he said. “It’s important to learn from tasks that may feel outside your comfort zone.”
Rhode Island Energy started the conversation around energy affordability early, Cornett said.
“I’ve always wanted to lead with transparency and empathy and understanding, and trying to meet our customers where they are and to give them information and explain to them what we’re doing to try to help with affordability, while at the same time building a system that they can rely on every single day,” he said.
Cornett is very aware of how important energy is for people’s everyday lives and he feels a deep sense of service to his customers.
“I lead a team that is really very service-minded and service-oriented and I’m really grateful and thankful for that,” he said. “That service to our customers, and to the state as a whole, really drives me, but also the team drives me.”
During a 2026 blizzard that caused 50,000 power outages and brought 3 feet of snow to Rhode Island, Cornett quickly worked to get energy restored. He’s proud of how his team managed the cold stretch that preceded the blizzard. Cornett believes in being physically present during crises, he said.
“I’ve never been through a true blizzard before in my life,” he said. “We have our own contracted meteorologists that we were meeting with initially daily, and then after that twice a day, as we headed into the weekend to understand what the likely impact from the storm was going to be and ensuring that we were fully prepared for that ourselves to be able to have the resources at our disposal.”
Overall, Cornett said, be open to the unexpected.
“The last two years have been some of the most challenging, stressful but incredibly rewarding years of my career,” he said. “It’s been so rewarding and I wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity if I’d been afraid of the unknown. And I’m incredibly thankful that I answered the call.”
