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Profile
New York power
Produced 20.9 gigawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 — enough electricity for about 2,100 homes for a year.*
Air quality & health in Erie County
Erie County has a population of 946,147. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 196,802 cases in the county.
The county received a grade of B for ozone pollution. For particle pollution — the fine soot and dust that can be breathed deep into the lungs — it received a grade of C.
Federal monitoring recorded 168 days of good air quality and 97 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 9 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 power plant
New York has 100 natural gas plants, and the Indeck Yerkes Energy Center in Tonawanda ranks #67 of them by 2024 electricity produced. It began operating in 1989 and uses a natural gas fired combined cycle design, meaning it captures waste heat from burning gas to make extra power from the same fuel.
In 2024 it produced 20.9 gigawatt-hours, a gigawatt-hour being a very large unit of electricity, and that is about 2,100 homes’ worth of power for a year. Its two generators have a combined capacity of 59.9 MW, a megawatt being the most electricity the plant can deliver at one moment, roughly what about 2,100 homes use over a year in total.
Generation profile
The plant can produce 60 megawatts of electricity at once, across 2 generating units. In 2024 it produced 20.9 gigawatt-hours in total, which works out to about 4% of what it could have produced running flat out all year — the pattern of a plant that runs only during periods of high demand.
Nearby places worth exploring
Tonawanda sits just north of Buffalo, where the Canalside waterfront on Lake Erie, the Buffalo Zoo, and the University at Buffalo are all familiar stops. Niagara Falls is a short drive north.
Local school district
Kenmore-Tonawanda Union Free School District
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* 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.
