New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 890 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Orange County

Orange County has a population of 407,470. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 78,693 cases in the county.

No ozone grade is available for the county in the most recent report. For particle pollution — the fine soot and dust that can be breathed deep into the lungs — it received a grade of B.

Federal monitoring recorded 228 days of good air quality and 38 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, Airport Road Solar in Wawayanda ranks #33 by how much electricity it produced in 2024. It began operating in 2022 and uses solar photovoltaic technology, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity. Its rated capacity is 3.4 MW, a megawatt being a measure of the most power a plant can deliver at one moment.

In 2024 it produced 8.9 gigawatt-hours, a gigawatt-hour being a large unit of energy equal to a million kilowatt-hours, roughly enough for about 890 homes. Like all solar, it generates without burning fuel. NJR Clean Energy Ventures Corporation owns it, and Orange & Rockland is the local utility.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 3,400 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 3,600,000 pounds of coal.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Wawayanda sits in Orange County, in the Hudson Valley, where Bear Mountain and Harriman state parks offer wooded trails and views. West Point and Storm King Art Center are also in the region, and the city of Middletown serves as the county’s commercial hub.

Local school district

Middletown City 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.