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Profile
New York power
Produced 222.4 gigawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 — enough electricity for about 22,000 homes for a year.*
Air quality & health in Tompkins County
Tompkins County has a population of 103,558. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 20,492 cases in the county.
The county received a grade of B for ozone pollution. No particle pollution grade is available.
Federal monitoring recorded 218 days of good air quality and 20 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 power plant
New York has 100 natural gas plants in this category, and Cornell University Central Heat in Ithaca ranks #29 of 100 by 2024 electricity produced. It is a cogeneration plant, meaning it makes electricity and also heat for the campus from the same fuel. It has operated since 1988 and draws water from Fall Creek.
In 2024 it produced 222.4 gigawatt-hours, a unit of electricity equal to a million kilowatt-hours, which is about 22,000 homes’ worth of power. Its capacity is 39.5 MW (megawatts, the most power it can deliver at one moment), and it runs on natural gas, a combined cycle setup that reuses exhaust heat to make extra power.
Generation profile
The plant can produce 40 megawatts of electricity at once, across 6 generating units. In 2024 it produced 222.4 gigawatt-hours in total, which works out to about 64% of what it could have produced running flat out all year — the pattern of a plant that runs through much of the year.
Nearby places worth exploring
Ithaca sits at the southern end of Cayuga Lake and is home to Cornell University and Ithaca College. Taughannock Falls and Buttermilk Falls state parks, both centered on dramatic gorges, are close by.
Local school district
Ithaca City 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.
