New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 250 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 NY 26 Carthage CSG, on NY 26 in Carthage, ranks #415 of 567 by 2024 electricity produced. It’s a solar photovoltaic plant, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity. Standard Solar owns it, and it began operating in 2020.

Last year it produced 2.5 gigawatt-hours of electricity (a gigawatt-hour is a unit for measuring large amounts of energy), roughly enough for about 250 homes. Its capacity is 5.0 MW, the most power it can deliver at one moment, and it feeds the New York Power Authority system. Sunlight produces no combustion, so it runs without burning fuel.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 980 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 using about 2,400 barrels of oil.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Carthage sits in Jefferson County, close to Watertown and the Thousand Islands region. The resort villages of Clayton and Alexandria Bay line the St. Lawrence River, and Sackets Harbor sits on the shore of Lake Ontario.

Local school district

Carthage 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.