New York power

Generates renewable electricity from the NYC W. Delaware Tunnel Outlet, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 1,900 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Sullivan County

Sullivan County has a population of 79,920. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 16,644 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

New York has 142 hydropower plants of this kind, and the West Delaware Tunnel Plant in Grahamsville ranks #70 of 142 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It draws on water from the NYC W. Delaware Tunnel Outlet, so it makes power from water already flowing through the city’s tunnel system. It began operating in 1988 and has one generator.

In 2024 it produced 18.6 gigawatt-hours, which is a unit for measuring large amounts of electricity over time, enough for about 1,900 homes. Its capacity is 7.5 MW, meaning the most power it can deliver at any one moment, and it ran at about 28 percent of that over the year. It is a conventional hydroelectric plant, which simply means flowing water turns a turbine to generate electricity.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 7,200 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 7,400,000 pounds of coal.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Grahamsville sits in Sullivan County, in the southern Catskills. Visitors often head to Bethel Woods Center for the Arts or the village of Monticello. The Delaware River forms the county’s western edge.

Local school district

Tri-Valley 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.