New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 610 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Niagara County

Niagara County has a population of 209,457. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 44,812 cases in the county.

The county received a grade of B for ozone pollution. No particle pollution grade is available.

Federal monitoring recorded 240 days of good air quality and 21 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 1 day rated unhealthy for sensitive groups.

Long-term exposure to air pollution has been linked to certain health conditions, particularly for children and older adults. Where electricity comes from affects how much combustion pollution is produced on the grid.

These figures describe the county as a whole and are not specific to this facility. Sources: American Lung Association – State of the Air (New York); U.S. EPA Air Quality Index.

The story behind this New York renewable energy facility

Of the 567 solar plants in New York in this category, Ransomville Solar 1 ranks #197 by the electricity it produced in 2024. Found on Swann Road in Niagara County, it began operating in 2019 and uses solar photovoltaic technology, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity. AES Distributed Energy owns it, and the power flows into the National Grid system.

The plant has a capacity of 5.0 MW, a megawatt being a measure of how much power it can deliver at its peak. Its 2024 output was 6.1 gigawatt-hours, a gigawatt-hour being a large unit of electricity over time, enough for about 610 homes.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 2,300 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as taking about 500 cars off the road for a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Ransomville sits in Niagara County, not far from Niagara Falls State Park and the river gorge. Farther along the Niagara River, the village of Lewiston and Fort Niagara State Park sit where the river meets Lake Ontario.

Local school district

Lewiston-Porter Central School District

Common questions

* Homes-powered and emissions comparisons are annual estimates based on national averages from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Homes powered” describes a quantity of electricity, not direct service to specific households. How we calculate this.