New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 710 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Jefferson County

Jefferson County has a population of 114,787. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 21,824 cases in the county.

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

Federal monitoring recorded 255 days of good air quality and 16 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 Blanchard Road 1 Community Solar in Clayton ranks #135 of 567 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It has run since 2019 and is owned by OYA Blanchard Road LLC. It pairs solar photovoltaic panels, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, with batteries, which store power for later use.

Its capacity is 10.0 MW, a megawatt being a measure of the most power a facility can deliver at one moment. Over the year it generated 7.1 gigawatt-hours, a unit for large amounts of energy, which is about 710 homes’ worth of electricity. Sunlight is a carbon-free source, and the plant sends its power to the National Grid system.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 2,700 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as the carbon absorbed by about 2,800 acres of forest in a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Clayton is a resort village on the St. Lawrence River, in the heart of the Thousand Islands region. Alexandria Bay is another well-known river village nearby, and Watertown is the area’s main city. Sackets Harbor, on Lake Ontario, is also within reach.

Local school district

Thousand Islands 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.