New York power

Generates renewable electricity from the Indian River, supporting New York communities and producing enough electricity for about 1,100 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 142 hydropower plants in this category, and the Philadelphia plant on the Indian River ranks #95 of 142 by 2024 electricity produced. It uses conventional hydroelectric technology, which means river water flowing through a turbine spins a generator, much like a water wheel connected to a power source. Hydropower is renewable and carbon-free.

The plant has one generator with a capacity of 3.6 MW, the most power it can deliver at any one moment. Its 2024 output was 10.7 gigawatt-hours (a unit for measuring large amounts of electricity), enough for about 1,100 homes. It began operating in 1986 and is owned by EONY Generation Limited.

Environmental impact

Produces electricity without burning fuel, which avoids roughly 4,100 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year compared with producing the same electricity from the national mix of power sources — about the same as not burning about 4,300,000 pounds of coal.*

Nearby places worth exploring

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

Local school district

Indian River 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.