New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 830 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Jefferson County

Jefferson County has a population of 114,787. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 21,824 cases in the county.

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

Federal monitoring recorded 255 days of good air quality and 16 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 0 days 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

Out of the 567 solar plants in New York’s solar category, Blanchard Road 2 Community Solar in Clayton ranks #63 by 2024 electricity produced. It has been operating since 2019, with a nameplate capacity of 10.0 MW (a megawatt is a unit of power, and the nameplate figure is the most the plant can deliver at one moment). It is owned by OYA Blanchard Road 2 LLC.

In 2024 it produced 8.3 gigawatt-hours of electricity (a gigawatt-hour is a billion watt-hours, a common way to measure a plant’s yearly output), which is about 830 homes’ worth. It pairs solar photovoltaic panels, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, with batteries, which store power for later. Sunlight is renewable and releases no carbon as it works.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 3,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as not burning about 370,000 gallons of gasoline.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Clayton is a resort village on the St. Lawrence River, in the heart of the Thousand Islands region. Alexandria Bay, another river village, sits nearby, and Sackets Harbor lies along Lake Ontario. Watertown, the area’s larger city, is a short drive away.

Local school district

Thousand Islands 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.