New York power

Generates renewable electricity from sunlight, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 800 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

Among New York’s 567 solar plants in this category, OYA Wayside Drive in Watertown ranks #91 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It uses solar photovoltaic technology, which means panels turn sunlight directly into electricity with no moving parts. The plant began operating in 2022 and has a capacity of 5.0 MW, a measure of the most power it can deliver at one moment.

In a year it produced 8.0 gigawatt-hours, a unit for large amounts of electricity, which is about 800 homes’ worth. Because the sun sets, clouds pass, and winter days run short, the plant’s output runs at roughly 18 percent of what it could make if it ran at full strength every hour.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 3,100 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 3,200 acres of forest in a year.*

Nearby places worth exploring

Watertown sits in Jefferson County, close to the Thousand Islands region along the St. Lawrence River. The resort villages of Clayton and Alexandria Bay are popular stops for boating and river views. Sackets Harbor, on the shore of Lake Ontario, is also nearby.

Local school district

General Brown 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.