Reporting by IEN staff at Manufacturing.net, with incentive details from Area Development.
Niagara Power Transformer is adding 73 jobs in Erie County, New York, as part of a $71 million expansion of its plant in Cheektowaga, just outside Buffalo. The new hires take the company's workforce from 146 to 219, according to Manufacturing.net.
The company calls the project the Niagara Power 50 Initiative. The name is the goal: a 50 percent increase in transformer production.
What Happened
The expansion adds about 96,000 square feet to the existing plant for manufacturing, warehouse and office space. It brings in specialized manufacturing equipment, new material handling and storage, upgraded utilities and new engineering and administrative space, per Area Development.
When it is finished, annual output rises from about 90 transformers to about 140. The work is expected to wrap up over the next two years.
Chris Kraft, president of Niagara Power Transformer, called it "the largest investment in our company's history."
Founded in 1924
Niagara Power Transformer started in 1924 in a former Buffalo trolley barn. Its first products were small dry-type and pole-top transformers, the kind that hang on a utility pole outside a house.
Today it builds large liquid-filled power transformers and specialty units for electric utilities and industrial customers. Those units sit in transmission and distribution systems and use a dielectric fluid inside the tank to insulate the internal components. The company ships to customers in more than 80 countries.
The Work on the Floor
A large power transformer is built by hand more than most people would guess. Crews cut and stack the steel core. Winders build the copper coils layer by layer. Assemblers fit the core and coils into a steel tank that welders fabricate. The finished unit is dried, filled with insulating fluid and run through factory testing before it ships on a heavy haul trailer or railcar.
Every one of those steps is a skilled job. Going from 90 units a year to 140 means more winders, more welders, more assemblers, more test technicians and more engineers to design custom units for each customer. That is where the 73 new jobs go.
How New York Put the Package Together
Several state and county agencies stacked their support behind the project, according to Area Development.
- New York Power Authority: $4.5 million through its Western New York Power Proceeds program.
- Empire State Development: up to $3.4 million in performance-based tax credits through the Excelsior Jobs Program. Performance-based means the credits are earned as the jobs and investment show up.
- Brownfield Cleanup Program: the site is eligible for up to $1.5 million in tax credits, administered by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, with the site enrolled through the Department of Environmental Conservation. The program exists to put previously used industrial land back to productive work, and this site is about to employ 73 more people.
- Erie County Industrial Development Agency: nearly $2.2 million in sales and property tax abatements.
Justin E. Driscoll, president and CEO of the New York Power Authority, said the project "will strengthen the domestic supply chain of critical grid infrastructure."
Kraft said the NYPA support lets the company "deepen our roots in Western New York," according to Governor Kathy Hochul's September 29 announcement of the award. That release counts the jobs as 146 retained and 73 new full-time permanent positions, and describes the company's product simply: transformers that change voltage on the grid.
Niagara Power Transformer was one of several companies in that round. Across Western and Northern New York, NYPA awarded nearly $8 million to projects carrying nearly $89 million in capital investment, with about 150 jobs tied to the Western New York awards and more than 340 to the Northern New York award.
Hope Knight, president, CEO and commissioner of Empire State Development, called it a "landmark expansion" for the region.
Why Transformers Matter Now
Every new power plant, data center, factory and housing development needs transformers to connect. Large power transformers are custom builds, and the number of plants that make them in the United States is small. Adding 50 units a year at one Buffalo area plant is real capacity for the utilities and developers waiting on them.
It is also part of a pattern Positive Current has tracked all fall. Virginia's transformer plants are adding roughly 1,300 jobs. The only U.S. mill making transformer steel is adding 220 construction jobs. Now a Buffalo shop that started in a trolley barn is adding 73 more people to the line.
What to Watch
The company expects the work to wrap up over the next two years, which puts a 219-person workforce on the floor around 2028. The next milestones are the construction schedule and the first hiring postings. The Excelsior credits are tied to performance, so the state's support follows the hiring.
For Western New York, the story is simple. A 102-year-old manufacturer is betting its largest investment ever on the people who already build transformers in Erie County, and on 73 more.
Sources
- IEN Staff, "Century-Old Transformer Maker Plans $71M Expansion in New York," Manufacturing.net, September 2, 2026.
- Office of Governor Kathy Hochul, "Governor Hochul Announces NYPA Economic Development Awards That Will Drive Nearly $89 Million in Investment," governor.ny.gov, September 29, 2026.
- Area Development News Desk, "Niagara Power Transformer Expands Buffalo, New York, Manufacturing Operations," Area Development, October 25, 2026.
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Tips and corrections: amos.snead@positivecurrent.com
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