Carroll H. Dunn
Therefore, either you would voluntarily retire when the commitment was over, or
were prepared to go back to your permanent grade if you didn't retire. I responded to
the chief of staffs letter quoting this policy by saying that, when that assignment was
over, if the chief of staff (or his successor as chief of
felt that there was no
appropriate assignment, then I would voluntarily retire. That would have been in the
summer of 1974. In effect, I retired about ten months earlier than would have been a
normal completion of tour.
I did it because I knew that this was my last assignment. And, again, Con Edison had
approached me to become their vice president of construction. They were very anxious
to start a major pumped storage power plant. Since I had had some experience with
hydropower plants in the Southwestern Division, they thought that experience would
be useful to them. In order to meet their schedule I had to decide to retire by 30
September 1973, which I did.
.
Q
How did you first come to Con Ed's attention? They had been seeking you earlier.
A
Back as early as 1971 I had been approached by them. Then, in the spring of 1973,
realizing that within a year I probably would retire, I began to explore some
possibilities, including several in Texas. Apparently, they heard that I might be available
and approached me again.
The actual contact by Con Edison was through another Corps of Engineers officer, Bill
Lapsley, who had retired from the Corps as a major general. He had become involved
with Con Edison, because Charles
the chairman of Con Edison, had previously
been the head of the Bonneville Power Administration in the North Pacific. While there,
he had known Lapsley, who was at that time North Pacific division engineer.
later
became the Deputy Secretary of the Interior in the Kennedy administration and then
went from Interior to Con Edison to be the chairman and chief executive.
Shortly after
came to Con Edison, he found a very unfavorable situation in the
company and felt strongly that it was necessary to make major changes in key positions.
He began to look around for people that he knew had strong management
qualifications. One of the people he recruited was Lapsley. There were also several
other engineer officers who had retired and gone to work there. He had also brought
in people
the Atomic Energy Commission and several other government agencies.
He was looking for experienced managers who could go into relatively high positions
as he reorganized and rearranged the company to suit his requirements. It basically,
then, was because of Lapsley, because we had served on the rivers and harbors board
together and he was aware of my activities and background. He was the principal agent
in bringing me in. Lapsley later became the president of Con Edison, retiring from that
position in 1975.
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