Maple Ridge Wind Farm

The largest wind farm in New York State can light 125,000 homes a year

For generations, dairy farms were the major agricultural business of the towns around the Tug Hill Plateau. In 2006, though, a new crop came up: wind. The construction of 195 wind turbines, each tower 260 feet high, turned this isolated spot in Lewis County into the largest wind farm in New York State. The farm produces 320 megawatts of electricity – enough to light 125,000 homes a year, or produce enough electricity for all of Lewis, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties.

At a glance

The wind farm got its name from the second-largest cash crop in the region, maple syrup – Lewis County is the state’s largest producer.
The 21,000-acre project covers a 12-by-3 mile swath in the towns of Harrisburg, Lowville, Martinsburg and Watson; the turbines occupy about 1 percent of that.
The electricity produced by the turbines spares 450,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.