New York Power Authority

The New York Power Authority (NYPA) is a New York State public-benefit corporation, governed by a seven‑member board of trustees with a CEO-led management team.^[8][9] The Board of Trustees is appointed by the governor of New York with the advice and consent of the State Senate.^[8][10]

Trustees serve five‑year terms and typically sit on standing committees, including Audit, Governance, Finance, and Risk and Resiliency.^[8][11] Each committee comprises at least three independent board members with relevant expertise.^[12]

As of 2026, the Board of Trustees consists of the following members:^[11]

• John R. Koelmel (Chair)
• Michael J. Cusick
• Bethaida González
• Cecily L. Morris
• Dennis G. Trainor
• Lewis M. Warren, Jr.
• Laurie Wheelock

NYPA also interacts with specialized allocation or advisory boards such as the Northern New York Power Proceeds Allocation Board, whose members are appointed under separate statutory criteria but tied to NYPA power proceeds,^[13] which are funds generated from the sale of unused hydropower from NYPA's Niagara and St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt power projects.^[14][13]

Day‑to‑day operations are run by a president and chief executive officer who reports to the board.^[9] As of 2026, Justin E. Driscoll is president and CEO.^[11]

The New York Power Authority also oversees specialized subsidiaries. NYPA owns the New York State Canal Corporation, a separate public-benefit corporation responsible for operating and maintaining the state’s canal system.^[15][16] NYPA became financially responsible in 2016 and the owner as of January 1, 2017.^[15] Another subsidiary, the New York Renewable Energy Development Holdings Corporation, was established following the approval of the 2023-24 New York enacted state budget to develop, construct, and operate new renewable energy projects.^[17]

The New York Power Authority owns and operates hydroelectric,^[18] pumped-storage hydroelectric,^[19] and open and combined cycle gas turbine power plants,^[20][21] as well as battery electric storage facilities.^[22] The NYPA has committed to retiring all fossil fuel units by 2035.^[23] Following state law, NYPA must retire all gas-fired peaking power plants by 2035 unless they must be kept for reliability.^[24]

In the 2024 fiscal year state budget the NYPA was directed to develop utility-scale renewable energy generating facilities.^[25] In 2025, Gov. Hochul asked NYPA to develop a new nuclear project that would deliver at least 1 gigawatt of advanced nuclear generation.^[26]

Power produced by NYPA is sold to municipal utilities,^[27] large and small businesses,^[28] not-for-profit organizations,^[28] government agencies,^[29] private utilities for resale without profit to their customers,^[30] and utilities in neighboring states^[27] under federal requirements.^[30] Power is also sold into the wholesale electricity market of New York State, which is administered by the New York Independent System Operator.^[31] Among NYPA's largest direct sales customers are the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the City of New York, and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.^[32]

Then-Governor Franklin D. 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.^[43]

St. Lawrence-Franklin D. Roosevelt Power Project

The International Joint Commission granted its approval for a cross-border construction project in 1952. In 1953, the Federal Power Commission 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 signed legislation that cleared the way for construction of both a hydroelectric facility and the St. Lawrence Seaway. First power was achieved in July 1958, and on June 27, 1959, Queen Elizabeth II and Vice President Richard M. Nixon 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

In 1956, a rockslide destroyed most of the Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation'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 Federal Power Commission, Robert Moses 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. In a recorded message broadcast February 10, 1961, to mark first power, President John F. Kennedy called the Niagara project “an outstanding engineering achievement” and an “example to the world of North American efficiency and determination.”

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.