Suzanne Cooper

Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer


Suzanne Cooper was named BPA’s deputy administrator and chief operating officer in October 2025. In this role, Cooper serves as the principal BPA executive and policy advisor to the BPA administrator and chief executive officer. She is also responsible for leading the agency’s strategy development and operations performance focused on enhancing the execution of BPA operations, systems and processes. 

As deputy administrator and chief operating officer, Cooper is responsible for Power Services; Transmission Services; Environment, Fish and Wildlife; and Customer Support Services. She also oversees the Chief Information Technology and Business Transformation Offices and plays a critical role in BPA's sustained focus on disciplined cost containment, grid modernization and customer responsiveness.

Previously, Cooper was the senior vice president of Power Services. Since 2021, she oversaw the acquisition, sales and scheduling of wholesale and bulk power; generation asset management of the federal hydro system and one nuclear plant; management of wholesale power contracts and rates; energy efficiency; and business relationships with more than 140 retail utility customers.  

Before that, Cooper served as vice president for Bulk Marketing for 10 years. She was responsible for trading floor activities and spot market sales totaling approximately $300 million per year, as well as long-term sales and acquisitions, pre-scheduling and other requirements related to secondary power sales.

Cooper joined BPA in 1991, beginning her career in the Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity office before moving to an economist position in 1994. She accepted her first management position in 2003, leading the Fish Operations Policy and Planning team, which is accountable for configuring hydro system operations to meet requirements associated with the Endangered Species Act. From 2007 to 2011, she managed Power Policy and Rates, the organization responsible for establishing power rates, developing power products and implementing the Residential Exchange Program.

A life-long Oregonian, Cooper graduated from Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis and earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Lewis and Clark College in Portland.

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