Jobs and People

NYPA names Piper to head Niagara Power Project

NYPA names Piper to head Niagara Power Project

The New York Power Authority (NYPA has appointed Daniella Piper regional manager of Western New York, the top position at the Niagara Power Project.

Piper will be in charge of project operations and also will take on the role of NYPA’s Chief Transformation Officer, bringing her experience in leading NYPA’s digital transformation efforts to bear on enterprise-wide transformation efforts, including the VISION2030 Strategic Plan and NYPA’s recently adopted 10-Point Diversity Equity and Inclusion Roadmap.

Piper succeeds Harry Francois, who recently retired from NYPA. She is the first woman to head the Niagara Power Project in its 60-year history. She will formally assume her new position April 1.

Piper was promoted to this role to better align NYPA’s statewide generation and transmission operations with its recently released VISION2030, a 10-year plan to support New York State’s transformation to a cleaner, more resilient energy grid.

She previously served as chief of staff for NYPA’s President and Chief Executive Officer Gil C. Quiniones and vice president of NYPA’s Digital Transformation Office

“As my Chief of Staff and Vice President of our Digital Transformation Office for the past three years, Daniella demonstrated the skills and experience needed to champion the work of NYPA’s talented workforce in Western New York and drive the largest capital investment in NYPA’s history: the digitization of the Niagara Power Project,” said Quiniones. “The Niagara Power Project is NYPA’s crown jewel, and with Daniella at the head of the project, I am confident the project will continue to be an engine of clean energy and economic strength for our great state well into the next century.”

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the launch of the Niagara Power Project’s 15-year, $1.1 billion Next Generation Niagara program in 2019, calling it “one of the most ambitious recent infrastructure endeavors in the state.” Planned improvements include replacing aging equipment with the latest machinery reflecting advanced digital technologies for optimizing the hydroelectric project’s performance. The digitalization and upgrade project will secure the plant’s long-term future as a clean power generator that spurs economic development in Western New York and across the state through its low-cost power allocation programs.

Piper began her career at NYPA in 2007 as a developmental intern in the electrical engineering department. She became a full-time employee in 2008 and completed a one-year rotational engineering program in the maintenance department at NYPA’s Blenheim-Gilboa Pumped Storage Power Project and at the now-retired Charles Poletti Project in New York City, as well as at the Niagara Power Project. Upon returning to White Plains, Piper continued her work in the engineering department and the reliability standards and compliance group, where she helped develop NYPA’s compliance program.

In 2014, Piper moved to the project management department, where she led NYPA’s Statewide $729 million Transmission Life Extension and Modernization Program and the construction of the Marcy South Series Compensation Project in 2016, as well as many other transmission upgrades across the state. Piper became chief of staff and vice president Digital Transformation Office in 2018.

“I feel fortunate and excited to return to Western New York and am humbled by the opportunity,” Piper said. “I recognize the critical role that the Niagara Power Project and its staff play in the community and the state, and the important work to be done to achieve NYPA’s ambitious goals.”

Piper is a professional engineer in the state of New York and holds a bachelor of engineering in electrical engineering from City College of New York, a master of science in electrical engineering from New York University, and a master of science in civil engineering from Manhattan College.

NYPA is the largest state public power organization in the U.S., operating 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. More than 80% of the electricity NYPA produces is clean renewable hydropower.