Joseph Fiordaliso, president of the NJ Board of Public Utilities, dies at 78

The president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Joseph Fiordaliso, died Wednesday. He was 78.

Fiordaliso, a native of Newark and a former mayor of Livingston, was first appointed to the board as a commissioner in 2005 by then-Gov. Dick Codey. He retained his seat through the Christie administration.

Gov. Phil Murphy made Fiordaliso a cabinet member when he appointed him president of the board in 2018.

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Murphy called Fiordaliso was a “consummate public servant, a trusted colleague and a good friend” but that above all he was devoted to his wife, children and grandchildren.

“As President of the BPU since the beginning of my administration, Joe skillfully led our work to responsibly transition to a clean energy economy while always putting the needs of consumers first,” Murphy said in a statement. “He also was a key figure in our storm response efforts and in ensuring that all New Jerseyans had access to critical services like clean water, electricity, and broadband.”

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Record of public service

Before taking the post at the BPU, Fiordaliso had served on the township council in Livingston and had held the role of mayor three times.

In addition to his role at the state BPU, Fiordaliso was a member of the State Planning Commission, co-chair on the New Jersey Council on the Green Economy and served on the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Committee on Critical Infrastructure and Committee on Energy Resources and the Environment as well as several other regional boards and committees related to energy and electricity.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ Board of Public Utilities president Joseph Fiordaliso dies at 78