New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 680 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 the NYS Rte 12 Community Solar project near Clayton, in Jefferson County, ranks #151 of 567 by 2024 electricity produced. It began operating in 2019 and is owned by OYA NYS Rte 12 LLC, with power delivered through National Grid.

The site uses solar photovoltaic panels, which turn sunlight directly into electricity, along with batteries that store power for later. It has a capacity of 10.0 MW, a measure of the most electricity it can send out at one moment. Its 6.8 gigawatt-hours of output, a unit for large amounts of electricity over time, is roughly the usage of about 680 homes. Solar produces power without burning fuel.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 2,600 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 2,700 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 close by. Watertown is the nearest larger city, and Sackets Harbor sits 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.