New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 190 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Onondaga County

Onondaga County has a population of 467,873. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 96,258 cases in the county.

The county received a grade of B for ozone pollution. For particle pollution — the fine soot and dust that can be breathed deep into the lungs — it received a grade of D.

Federal monitoring recorded 217 days of good air quality and 52 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 4 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 Onondaga County- Jamesville plant ranks #482 of 567 by 2024 electricity produced. It is a solar photovoltaic plant, meaning panels that turn sunlight directly into electricity, and it began operating in 2018.

The plant has a capacity of 2.0 MW, which is the most power it can deliver at one moment, and it produced 1.9 gigawatt-hours in a year, a gigawatt-hour being a large measure of electricity over time, enough for about 190 homes. Tesla Inc. owns it, and it feeds the National Grid network.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 720 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 750 acres of forest in a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Jamesville sits just outside Syracuse, home to Syracuse University, with Onondaga Lake Park along the lakeshore. Green Lakes State Park, known for its glacial lakes and trails, is also a popular nearby outing.

Local school district

Jamesville-DeWitt 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.