The New York State Electric and Gas Corporation (NYSEG) was incorporated in 1852 as the Ithaca Gas Light Company. Throughout the later half of the nineteenth century and the earlier portion of the twentieth century, the corporation participated in a series of mergers and acquisitions which consolidated roughly 200 local utility companies under the name NYSEG.

Throughout the majority of its history, NYSEG operated a series of diesel and coal-fired power plants. The most prominent of these plants were the Goudey Station, located in Johnson City, NY; the Greenidge Station, located in Dresden, NY; the Hickling Station, located in Corning, NY; Jennison Generating Station located in Bainbridge, NY; and the Milliken Station, located on Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, NY. Beginning in the 1970’s, NYSEG began searching for alternatives to coal produced power. In 1975 the corporation became an 18% partner in The Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation’s Nine Mile Point nuclear facility, and during the 1980’s the company completed a series of hydroelectric power plants.

Today, the corporation employs roughly 4,800 people and provides power and gas throughout a service area which encompasses 35% of New York State’s land mass.