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Morning News

Some Californians Use Their Own Energy Sources

Aired January 25, 2001 - 11:35 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KAGAN: There is at least one community in California that is untouched by the current statewide power crisis. About 100 people who are living in Ukiah, in the hallows above the Mendocino Coast, 110 miles north of San Francisco. If you've ever been there you know this is beautiful country. These folks are supplied by homegrown energy. These California residents have embraced an alternative lifestyle, which includes alternative energy sources.

One of them is Dale Glaser, who joins us -- or is it Glazer -- joining us now by phone -- Dale.

DALE GLASER, UKIAH, CALIFORNIA RESIDENT: It's Glaser.

KAGAN: Glaser, OK; just want to make sure we get that right, otherwise you might pull the plug on the phone call there.

Thanks for joining us. Now, first of all, tell us how you are making your own energy.

GLASER: I get my power from solar panels and a small wind generator and a hydroelectric system that I built myself.

KAGAN: And so that means that you are -- to use the term -- you're living off the grid, right?

GLASER: Yes, you could put it that way.

KAGAN: What does that mean for folks who aren't familiar with that?

GLASER: Well, it means when that -- when I moved up here, PG&E power wasn't available; and at the same time, I realized that I didn't want to hook into the grid -- that I wanted to supply my own energy. And over the years, the technology for doing that has improved to where it's relatively inexpensive -- it's certainly getting more so compared to the cost of PG&E power -- and efficient and relatively easy to set up.

KAGAN: So you wanted to do it just as a matter of principle when you moved up there...

GLASER: Yes, I'd say that.

KAGAN: ... to live off of the grid. Why is that? GLASER: It's just that energy and power is kind of an important thing for a homestead, and I didn't want to be dependent on the vagaries of the power system out there, and I knew that this kind of thing was going to be coming.

KAGAN: So you saw this coming. People probably thought you were nuts when you talked about this years ago.

GLASER: Well, what's interesting is that, behind the attention of the media during all these years since Carter first tried to start introducing, kind of -- more focus on renewable energy and solar power, that technology has been developing. And so I can run, basically, a standard house -- you know, in other words, all of the kind of appliances and so on that everybody else has...

KAGAN: Yes, what does that cost you?

GLASER: ... except that I run it off of an alternative energy system.

KAGAN: So what does it cost you?

GLASER: It cost me about $10,000 to install this and it's -- one of the nice things about renewable energy is that you can kind of modularize it. In other words, you can start out with a few solar panels and add more later; and you can start out with a smaller set of batteries, where you store that energy and have it to run your house and then put in bigger batteries later so that it's possible to start out kind of small scale and work your way up to whatever you need to meet your needs.

KAGAN: So Dale, anything that you're doing can be applied to the rest of us living in metro areas, as we are, attached to the grid?

GLASER: Yes; I mean, I'd say, if you were going to take a regular city house that runs off electricity, including heating, then you might have a little bit of a problem.

But you have to be a little bit more conscious in energy efficiency. I get my heating from wood -- a wood stove, and I do my refrigeration from propane. But my lighting and electricity and power tools and, you know, blender and music system and computer -- excuse me -- and so on I run off of my renewable energy system.

KAGAN: Well, you're sitting pretty now,

Dale Glaser from Ukiah, California; as I said, beautiful country where you live. Thanks for calling in and telling us how you're doing it differently from most folks in California.

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