Local Producers

Northern Power & Light began when we converted Azure Mountain Power, our family’s 750kW station in St Regis Falls, into the region’s first community hydro project, and we've been growing ever since!

Sissonville Hydro

The Sissonville hydro facility is located on the Raquette River in the village of Potsdam. Originally developed to grind pulp for the Racquette River Paper Company in the 1890s, the site has produced electricity since 1986. A single 3.1 MW generator produces enough power for approximately 1000 homes annually. The power plant is owned by Glens Falls-based Boralex Hydro Operations, Inc.

hydro Technology: Hydroelectric
calendar Year Built: 1986
utility Utility National Grid
Capacity Capacity: 3.1MW
homes Homes Powered: 2100
C02 Carbon Offset: 11,904 Metric Tons
Pictured: Boralex Hydro Operations Manager Erik Bergman, NP&L Founder Emmett Smith, and Facility Operator Gary McCormick

Potsdam has been home for our renewable hydro facility for decades, and we are pleased to find a new way to create positive environmental, social and economic benefits for the community.

-Erik Bergman, Operations Manager

The Sissonville facility maintains the water levels of the Racquette on the North side of the village of Potsdam.
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Azure Mountain Power

Azure Mountain Power (AMP) in St Regis Falls, NY is the region’s first community hydro project. This site on the St Regis River was first dammed in the 1880s by the Brooklyn Cooperage, which made sugar barrels from local timber. Everett Smith and Matt Foley added a powerhouse to the legacy dam structure in the 1990s. AMP operates as a “run of river” site, maintaining river flow around the dam to protect stream ecology, including a downstream trout fishery.

hydro Technology: Hydroelectric
calendar Year Built: 1993
utility Utility National Grid
Capacity Capacity: 750kW
homes Homes Powered: 300
C02 Carbon Offset: 1,767 Metric Tons
Pictured: Matt Foley & Everett Smith

A love for machinery, a connection to the land, and the belief that renewable energy is a valuable resource led Everett and Matt to build Azure Mountain Power in the early nineties. As Owner-Operators, they have worked to produce power and maintain the facility, including building a new log crib dam in 2014.

Azure Mountain Power produces electricity with two vertical shaft Leffel turbines and 2400-volt AC generators. This machinery was originally built in 1917 and installed at AMP in 1993.
Schroon River Paper Mill Dam

The storied history of this site begins in the late 1800s with the Schroon River Pulp and Paper Company, which would produce ground wood pulp, wallpaper and even the Warrensberg News. In 1976, a flood on the Schroon River jeopardized the mill, and a decision was made to dig a relief channel. Due to the sandy composition of the soil, however, the channel eroded immediately and the river bypassed the dam entirely in a matter of minutes. The mill ceased production and the site was derelict until 1987 when it was redeveloped for hydroelectric generation.

hydro Technology: Hydroelectric
calendar Year Built: 1987
utility Utility National Grid
Capacity Capacity: 3MW
homes Homes Powered: 1500
C02 Carbon Offset: 8,985 Metric Tons
Pictured: Schroon River Pulp & Paper Company c.1900

The Schroon River Dam and Powerhouse is located in Warrensburg, New York, and produces in excess of twelve million kilowatt-hours annually, enough to power roughly 1500 homes.