New York power

Produced 2,978.2 gigawatt-hours of electricity in 2024 — enough electricity for about 300,000 homes for a year.*

Air quality & health in Queens County

Queens County has a population of 2,252,196. Across five conditions the American Lung Association tracks — childhood asthma, adult asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease — it reports a combined 467,489 cases in the county.

No ozone grade is available for the county in the most recent report. For particle pollution — the fine soot and dust that can be breathed deep into the lungs — it received a grade of F.

Federal monitoring recorded 209 days of good air quality and 102 moderate days in the county over the most recent year, with 5 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

Of the 100 natural gas plants in New York, the Zeltmann plant in Astoria, Queens ranks #10 by the electricity it produced in 2024. It is owned by the New York Power Authority and began operating in 2005. It uses a combined cycle design, which means the plant captures the leftover heat from burning fuel and uses it to make extra electricity, so less energy goes to waste.

Last year it generated 2,978.2 gigawatt-hours, a gigawatt-hour being a way of counting a very large amount of electricity, which is about 300,000 homes’ worth. Its three generators can produce up to 528.0 MW at once, and a megawatt is a measure of how much power a plant can deliver at a given moment. It burns mostly natural gas, with a small share of distillate fuel oil (a light, refined fuel) as backup, and draws cooling water from the East River.

Generation profile

The plant can produce 528 megawatts of electricity at once, across 3 generating units. In 2024 it produced 2,978.2 gigawatt-hours in total, which works out to about 64% of what it could have produced running flat out all year — the pattern of a plant that runs through much of the year.

Nearby places worth exploring

Astoria sits along the western edge of Queens, with a waterfront that is a popular borough destination. A short trip east brings you to Flushing Meadows Corona Park, home to Citi Field and the US Open tennis center. Rockaway Beach, farther south in Queens, is another well-known spot for a day out.

Local school district

New York City Department Of Education

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.