The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is a public benefit corporation owned by the State of New York and is the largest state public power utility in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It provides some of the lowest-cost

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

in the nation, operating 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. Its main administrative offices are in

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

. NYPA uses no state tax dollars and incurs no state debt, financing its projects principally through the sale of bonds. The bonds are repaid and the projects operated using revenues from operations. State and federal regulations determine NYPA’s

customer base The customer base is a group of customers who repeatedly purchase the goods or services of a business. These customers are a main source of revenue for a company. The customer base may be considered a business's target market, where customer behav ...

, which includes large and small businesses,

not-for-profit organization A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

s, public power systems and government agencies. NYPA also sells electricity to private utilities for resale (without profit) to their customers, and to neighboring states, under federal requirements. Approximately 70 percent of the electricity it produces is clean, renewable

hydropower Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, ...

. The New York Power Authority has been financially responsible for the New York State Canal Corporation since April 2016 and has owned it since January 1, 2017. Justin Driscoll has been the president and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

since July 2023 and was previously acting president and CEO.

Organization

From 2011, the president and chief executive officer was Gil C. Quiniones. The executive staff report to a seven-member board. In 2017, it had operating expenses of $2.335 billion, an outstanding debt of $1.305 billion, and a staffing level of 2,327 people. He resigned in 2021 to be CEO of

Commonwealth Edison company Commonwealth Edison, commonly known by syllabic abbreviation as ComEd, is the largest electric utility in Illinois, and the primary electric provider in Chicago and much of Northern Illinois. Its service territory stretches roughly from Iroquoi ...

in Illinois. Justin Driscoll was voted as acting president and CEO in 2022 and automatically became president and CEO due to the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

deciding to not hold a confirmation hearing. In 2024, Sandra Bleckman was hired as the New York Power Authority's workforce development project director.

Operations

Electric power produced from NYPA's facilities – in addition to being sold to large and small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, public power systems, government agencies, private utilities for resale (without profit) to their customers, and neighboring states, under federal requirements – is sold into the wholesale electricity market of New York State, which is administered by the

NYISO New York energy law is the Statutory law, statutory, Regulation, regulatory, and common law of the United States, state of New York (state), New York concerning the policy, conservation, taxation, and utilities involved in energy. Secondary source ...

. One of the larger direct sales customers of electric power is the

Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a New York state public benefit corporations, public benefit corporation in New York (state), New York State responsible for public transportation in the New York metropolitan area, New York Ci ...

. NYPA also provides electrical engineering consulting services to the MTA when the MTA is planning for and building new power facilities.

Facilities

Power Generation

The NYPA owns and operates hydroelectric, pumped-storage hydroelectric, open and combined cycle gas turbine, and battery electric storage power plants. It formerly owned and operated two nuclear power plants, and is currently developing two solar PV plants.

Electric transmission lines

The hub of NYPA’s statewide power transmission facilities is the Frederick R. Clark Energy Center, in

Marcy, New York Marcy is a town in Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 8,777 at the 2020 census. The town was named after Governor William L. Marcy. It lies between the cities of Rome and Utica. The Erie Canal passes through the southern ...

. NYPA’s high-voltage transmission assets include a 765-kilovolt (kV) line that stretches more than 100 miles from the Canada–US border to the Clark Energy Center and almost 1,000 miles of 345-kV power lines that crisscross New York State, including the Marcy South line and a transmission project, that follows an underground and underwater path from

Westchester County Westchester County is a county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The county is the seventh most populous cou ...

to Long Island.

New York State Canal Corporation

The New York Power Authority has been financially responsible for the New York State Canal Corporation since April 2016 and has owned it since January 1, 2017.

History

Then-New York Governor Roosevelt signed the Power Authority Act into law on April 27, 1931 that established the Power Authority of the State of New York (PASNY); the name was later changed to New York Power Authority (NYPA). Leland Olds headed the authority from 1931 to 1939. StLawrencePowerProject

St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project The

International Joint Commission The International Joint Commission () is a bi-national organization established by the governments of the United States and Canada under the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909. Its responsibilities were expanded with the signing of the Great L ...

granted its approval for a cross-border construction project in 1952. In 1953, the

Federal Power Commission The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was an independent commission of the United States government, originally organized on June 23, 1930, with five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The FPC was originally created in ...

issued a license for NYPA to develop the U.S. portion of a power dam crossing the Canada–US border. On May 13, 1954, President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

signed legislation that cleared the way for construction of both a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

facility and the

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...

. First power was achieved in July 1958, and on June 27, 1959,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and Vice President

Richard M. Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

formally dedicated the St. Lawrence Project as a symbol of international cooperation. In 1981, NYPA’s half of the cross-border power dam was renamed the St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project in honor of the man who founded the Power Authority half a century earlier. Niagara Power Project NiagaraPowerVista

In 1956, a rockslide destroyed most of the

Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation was a New York State utility company, which was acquired in 2000 by National Grid plc. The Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation designation was retired, using variations of NationalGridUS (such as National Grid Buffa ...

's Schoellkopf hydropower plant, resulting in a power shortage that endangered thousands of local manufacturing jobs. In response to the emergency, Congress passed the Niagara Redevelopment Act in 1957. After obtaining a license from the

Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid-20th century. Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful and influentia ...

commenced work on NYPA’s second hydroelectric generating station in early 1958. When it was completed, three years later, the Niagara Power Project was the largest facility of its kind in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

. In a recorded message broadcast February 10, 1961, to mark first power, President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

called the Niagara project �
an outstanding engineering achievement
�� and an “example to the world of North American efficiency and determination.” BlenheimGilboa

Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project
Legislation signed by Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller in 1968 allowed NYPA to expand its generation assets and build nuclear and pumped storage power projects. This led to construction of the Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project, which produced electricity for the first time in July 1973, and the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant (named after a NYPA chairman), in Scriba, Oswego County, where power was first generated in February 1975.

Expanded Authority

The NYPA was newly authorized in the 2023-2024 state budget to develop, own, and operate renewable energy facilities which help meet the state's clean energy goals. A 20MW solar installation in Fort Edward and a 1.5MW solar facility in Albany were the first facilities announced under this expanded authority and are currently under development.

List of chairs of the New York Power Authority

Francis Patrick Walsh, 1931–1939.
James Cummings Bonbright, 1939–1946.
Maj.-Gen. Francis Bowditch Wilby, 1946–1950.
John Edward Burton, 1950–1954.

, 1954–1963.
James A. FitzPatrick, 1963–1977.
Frederick R. Clark, 1977–1979.
John Stuart Dyson, 1979–1985.
Richard M. Flynn, 1985–1994.
Clarence D. Rappleyea Jr., 1995–2001.
Joseph J. Seymour, 2001–2002, 2005–2006
Louis P. Ciminelli, 2002–2006.
Frank S. McCullough Jr., 2006–2008.
Michael J. Townsend, 2008–2012.
John R. Koelmel, 2012.
Gil C. Quiniones, 2012–2021.
Justin Driscoll, 2022–Present.

References

External links

*
Power Authority of the State of New York
in the

New York Codes, Rules and Regulations The ''New York Codes, Rules and Regulations'' (NYCRR) contains New York state rules and regulations. The NYCRR is officially compiled by the New York State Department of State's Division of Administrative Rules. Contents See also * '' New Yor ...

* {{authority control Municipal electric utilities of the United States Hydroelectric power companies of the United States 1931 establishments in New York (state) Public benefit corporations in New York (state)

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Energy in New York (state) Energy infrastructure on Long Island, New York