New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 620 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Tioga County

Tioga County has a population of 47,715. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 10,382 cases in the county.

No ozone or particle pollution grades are available for this county in the most recent report. The figures above describe how many residents live with conditions sensitive to air quality — not measured pollution levels.

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

Smith Creek is one of 567 solar plants in New York, and it ranks #185 among them by the electricity it produced in 2024. It sits in Nichols, Tioga County, and began operating in 2021. It uses solar photovoltaic technology, which means panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts. LSE Pisces LLC owns it, and NYSEG is the local utility.

Its capacity is 3.8 MW, a measure of the most power it can deliver at one moment. Over the year it generated 6.2 gigawatt-hours, a way of counting total electricity produced, which is about 620 homes’ worth of use. Solar plants only produce while the sun is up, and this one runs at roughly 19 percent of its full potential across the year.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 2,400 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 280,000 gallons of gasoline.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Nichols sits in Tioga County, not far from the riverside village of Owego on the Susquehanna River. The Finger Lakes lie to the north, and Binghamton is a short drive to the east.

Local school district

Owego-Apalachin 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.