New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 790 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 Great Lakes Seaway Community Solar in Clayton ranks #98 of 567 by 2024 electricity produced. It began operating in 2019 and has a capacity of 10.0 MW, meaning the most power it can send out at one moment, and it pairs solar photovoltaic panels (panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity) with batteries.

In 2024 it produced 7.9 gigawatt-hours, a unit of electricity, which is about 790 homes’ worth of use for a year. Because it runs on sunlight, it burns no fuel. The plant is owned by OYA Great Lakes Seaway LLC, and the local utility, National Grid, delivers its power through the grid.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 3,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as taking about 650 cars off the road for a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Clayton is one of the resort villages along the St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Islands region, and Alexandria Bay sits just up the river. Watertown is the nearest larger city, and Sackets Harbor lies on the shore of Lake Ontario.

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.