New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 400 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Oswego County

Oswego County has a population of 118,162. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 24,364 cases in the county.

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

Federal monitoring recorded 256 days of good air quality and 8 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

New York has 567 solar plants in this category, and Summit – Oswego, on State Route 104 in Oswego, ranks #264 of 567 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It uses solar photovoltaic technology, which means panels turn sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts.

The plant began operating in 2023 and is owned by MN8 Energy LLC, feeding power to the National Grid system. Its capacity of 2.2 MW (a megawatt is a measure of the most power it can deliver at one moment) produced 4.0 gigawatt-hours last year, enough for about 400 homes. A gigawatt-hour is simply a very large unit for counting electricity over time.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 1,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as keeping about 590 tons of waste out of a landfill.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Oswego sits on the shore of Lake Ontario and is home to SUNY Oswego, with Fort Ontario overlooking the harbor. Selkirk Shores State Park and the Salmon River are nearby, popular with anglers and campers.

Local school district

Fulton 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.