New York power

Generates renewable electricity from the Wappingers Lake, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 760 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Dutchess County

Dutchess County has a population of 297,150. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 62,789 cases in the county.

Federal monitoring recorded 252 days of good air quality and 17 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 3 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 142 hydropower plants in this category, and Wappinger Falls Hydroelectric ranks #114 of 142 by electricity produced in 2024. It draws on Wappingers Lake and has been running since 1988, using two generators with a combined capacity of 2.0 MW (a megawatt is a measure of the most power a plant can deliver at one moment).

In 2024 it produced 7.6 gigawatt-hours (a gigawatt-hour is a large unit of electricity, a way of counting energy over time), enough for about 760 homes. It is a conventional hydroelectric plant, meaning flowing water turns a turbine (a wheel that spins when water pushes on it) to generate carbon-free electricity.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 2,900 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 3,000,000 pounds of coal.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Wappinger Falls sits in Dutchess County, in the Hudson Valley. Nearby Poughkeepsie is home to Vassar College and Marist College, and the Walkway Over the Hudson is a pedestrian bridge people walk across the river. Further along the river, Beacon is known for the Dia Beacon art museum.

Local school district

Wappingers 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.