In the Gold Rush, Northern California attracted prospectors looking for financial independence. The area is at the forefront of a new movement in which people want to use only their own energy.
A small but growing number of Californians in rural areas and in the suburbs of San Francisco are going off the grid because they are angry at utilities and rising electricity bills. The cost of solar panels and batteries has plummeted over the last decade. Some homeowners who have built new, off-grid homes say they have saved money because their systems were cheaper than a new utility connection.
Free spirits and survivalists have lived off the grid. The decline in solar and battery costs is laying the groundwork for more people to consider doing so.
Local officials and real estate agents said there were many off-grid homes in Nevada County, a beautiful part of the Sierra Nevada range. Millions of people could eventually go off the grid as costs drop, according to some energy experts. The cost of a fully off-grid system in California can be as high as $100,000. The systems cost about the same as an entry-level Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.
"It's not just the doomsayers or the eco-hippies who have researched the laws and regulations about going off the grid for Primal Survivor." If you have the means to make the investment now, it's very little reason to not do it.
People going off the grid argue that utilities are not moving fast enough to address climate change and other problems. In Northern California, the safety record of Pacific Gas and Electric has angered many residents. The Camp Fire, which killed dozens and destroyed the town of Paradise, was caused by the company's equipment. The utility's attempt to prevent fires by cutting off power to homes and businesses has angered people.
Alan Savage is a real estate agent in Grass Valley who has sold hundreds of off-grid homes since buying them six years ago. He doesn't think he will ever go back to being on the grid.
It's not enough for people like him to follow the approach of most homeowners with solar panels and batteries. Those homeowners use their systems to supplement the electricity they get from the grid, provide emergency backup power and sell excess energy to the grid.
The appeal of off-grid homes has grown because utilities have become less reliable. There have been more extended power cuts in California, Texas, Louisiana and other states as a result of natural disasters linked to climate change.
State policymakers have proposed reducing incentives for installing solar panels on homes connected to the grid, as Californians are upset that electricity rates keep rising. Installation of off-grid solar and battery systems is expensive, but once the systems are up and running, they typically require modest maintenance and homeowners no longer have an electric bill.
By 2031, most California homeowners will save money by going off the grid as solar and battery costs fall and utility rates increase, according to a research organization formerly known as the Rocky Mountain Institute. The group predicts that that phenomenon will play out in less sunny regions over the following decades.
David Hochschild, chairman of the California Energy Commission, said that even a former governor, Jerry Brown, lives in an off- grid home. Mr. Hochschild was not convinced that such an approach made sense for most people.
Some energy experts worry that people who go off the grid could hurt efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The excess electricity produced by rooftop solar panels will no longer reach the grid, where it can be replaced by coal or natural gas plants.
After losing their jobs during the Pandemic, Pepe and Diane Cancino moved to Nevada County in 2020. They bought five acres with amazing views of the mountains. Mr. Cancino, a former home health care worker, picked up a chain saw and an ax to learn how to build a house.
The family will use a well for water and generate electricity when they finish their home this fall.
There were a lot of moments, Mr. Cancino said.
Their energy system includes solar panels on two shipping containers, one of which could be a guesthouse in the future. The panels will be on top of their home. They have propane generators for snowy days.
The Cancinos went off the grid because it would have cost them more to hook up to the grid than they spent on solar panels, batteries and generators.
Nevada County has peaks as high as 5,000 feet above sea level and was founded in 1851. Black bears are free and a single snowfall can blanket the ground with three feet of powder.
Interest in off-grid living bridges the partisan divide. Conservatives want self-reliance and the environmental benefits of solar and batteries.
While off-grid living might appeal to some, it was like having a computer not connected to the internet, said Scott Aaronson, a senior vice president for security and preparedness at the Edison Electric Institute, a utility industry trade group.
He said that you are getting some value, but you are not part of a greater whole.
The director of the Nevada County building department said that interest in cutting the cord surged after the utility began to use power shut-offs as a fire prevention tool.
A document was published by the county to help homeowners comply with building codes. Mr. Griesbach said that officials from as far away as Los Angeles had contacted his office for advice.
He said that you wouldn't have been able to do this 15 or 20 years ago.
Homeowners in rural areas have always been more likely to go off the grid because of the costs of extending power lines.
There were solar panels, diesel or propane generators, and lead acid batteries in the back of the off-grid homes. A system that could run a furnace, refrigerator, and washer and dryer could cost over $100,000.
The California Solar and Storage Association says that the cost of solar panels has fallen to less than 4 cents a watt from about 11 cents a watt in 2000. Banks of lead acid batteries used to cost tens of thousands of dollars and could weigh thousands of pounds, but have been replaced by batteries that weigh less and require less maintenance. The systems used by the Cancinos were installed by a man who said that generators serve mostly as an emergency backup for homes connected to the grid.
People building new homes are more likely to use off-grid systems. Installation of a 125- to 300-foot overhead power line to a new home costs about $20,000 according to the California Public Utilities Commission. Installation costs about $78,000 for 100 feet in places where lines have to be buried.
That is the reason that Wim Coekaerts went off the grid in his home.
He was told by the utility that it would cost $100,000 for a new electric line and $300,000 for a trench to be built. He spent $300,000 on solar panels and a large battery.
Mr. Coekaerts, an executive at Oracle, lived in the house for a year. He has not gone without power for a second even though his neighbors have lost it three times.
Mr. Coekaerts, a native of Belgium who moved to the United States in 1997, said he was nervous when it was bad.
He has never had to ration his use of appliances and has been able to charge two electric cars. He started mining the virtual currency after producing so much electricity.
His system cost a lot because he bought a large battery to use when the sun isn't shining. Electric cars may make it cheaper to go off the grid.
Electric cars are not designed to send power to homes. Bill Powers, a San Diego engineer who plans to go off the grid with the help of an electric car, said newer models like the Ford F-150 Lightning and theHyundai Ioniq 5 will have that ability.
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