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Profile
New York power
Produced 130.8 gigawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 — enough electricity for about 13,000 homes for a year.*
Air quality & health in Oswego County
Oswego County has a population of 118,162. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 24,364 cases in the county.
The county received a grade of B for ozone pollution. No particle pollution grade is available.
Federal monitoring recorded 256 days of good air quality and 8 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
On the shore of Lake Ontario in Oswego, there is an oil-fired power plant that made more electricity in 2024 than any of the 46 oil-fired plants in New York. It began operating in 1975 and burns mostly residual fuel oil (a thick, heavy oil left over from refining), with a small share of natural gas.
Last year it produced 130.8 gigawatt-hours (a unit of electricity, roughly a million kilowatt-hours per gigawatt-hour), which is about 13,000 homes’ worth of yearly use. Its two generators can supply up to 1,803.6 MW (megawatts, a measure of the most power a plant can deliver at once, or about 13,000 homes’ worth of yearly use when spread across a year). Plants like this often stand ready for high-demand days rather than running constantly.
Generation profile
The plant can produce 1,804 megawatts of electricity at once, across 2 generating units. In 2024 it produced 130.8 gigawatt-hours in total, which works out to about 1% of what it could have produced running flat out all year — the pattern of a plant that runs only during periods of high demand.
Nearby places worth exploring
Oswego sits on the southeastern shore of Lake Ontario, a pleasant spot for watching sunsets over the water. Fair Haven Beach State Park and Selkirk Shores State Park are a short drive away, and the State University of New York at Oswego calls the city home.
Local school district
Oswego 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.
