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This 100% solar community endured
Hurricane Ian with no loss of power and minimal damage
By By
Rachel Ramirez, CNN, October 2,
2022
Jeff Greenberg/Education
Images/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
The Babcock Ranch solar array, which is run by Florida Power and
Light.
CNN —
Anthony Grande moved away from Fort Myers three years ago in large
part because of the
hurricane risk. He has lived in southwest Florida for nearly 19
years, had experienced Hurricanes Charley in 2004 and
Irma in 2017 and saw what stronger storms could do to the coast.
Grande told CNN he wanted to find a new home
where developers prioritized climate resiliency in a state that is
increasingly vulnerable to record-breaking
storm surge, catastrophic wind and
historic rainfall.
What he found was Babcock Ranch — only 12
miles northeast of Fort Myers, yet seemingly light years away.
Babcock Ranch
calls itself
“America’s first solar-powered town.” Its nearby solar array — made up
of 700,000 individual panels — generates more electricity than the
2,000-home neighborhood uses, in a state where most electricity is
generated
by
burning natural gas, a
planet-warming fossil fuel.
The streets in this meticulously planned
neighborhood were designed to flood so houses don’t. Native
landscaping along roads helps control storm water. Power and internet
lines are buried to avoid wind damage. This is all in addition to
being built to Florida’s robust building codes.
Some residents, like Grande, installed more
solar panels on their roofs and added battery systems as an extra
layer of protection from power outages. Many drive electric vehicles,
taking full advantage of solar energy in the Sunshine State.
Climate resiliency was built into the fabric
of the town with stronger storms in mind.
So when Hurricane Ian came barreling toward
southwest Florida this week, it was a true test for the community. The
storm
obliterated the nearby Fort Myers and Naples areas with
record-breaking surge and winds over 100 mph. It knocked out power to
more than 2.6 million customers in the state, including 90% of
Charlotte County.
But the lights stayed on in Babcock Ranch.
“It certainly exceeded our expectations of a
major hurricane,” Grande, 58, told CNN.
A damaged building is seen in
Babcock Ranch after Hurricane Ian.
An uprooted tree in Babcock
Ranch after Hurricane Ian.
The storm uprooted trees and tore shingles
from roofs, but other than that Grande said there is no major damage.
Its residents say Babcock Ranch is proof that an eco-conscious and
solar-powered town can withstand the wrath of a near-Category 5 storm.
“We have proof of the case now because [the
hurricane] came right over us,” Nancy Chorpenning, a 68-year-old
Babcock Ranch resident, told CNN. “We have water, electricity,
internet — and we may be the only people in Southwest Florida who are
that fortunate.”
Grande said Hurricane Ian came through
southwest Florida “like a freight train.” But he wasn’t afraid that he
would lose everything in a storm, like he was when he lived in Fort
Myers.
“We’re very, very blessed and fortunate to
not be experiencing what they’re experiencing now in Sanibel Island
and Fort Myers Beach,” Grande said. “In the times that we’re living in
right now with climate change, the beach is not the place to live or
have a business.”
Syd Kitson, a former professional football
player for the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, is the mastermind
behind Babcock Ranch. Kitson envisioned it to be an eco-conscious and
innovative neighborhood that is safe and resilient from storms like
Ian.
The ranch
broke ground in 2015 with the construction of the solar array —
which was built and is run by
Florida Power and Light — and its first residents moved into the
town in 2018. Since then, the array has doubled in size and thousands
of people have made Babcock their home.
Around 700,000 solar panels
power Babcock Ranch.Dennis Axer/Alamy
“It’s a great case study to show that it can
be done right, if you build in the right place and do it the right
way,” said Lisa Hall, a spokesperson for Kitson, who also lives in
Babcock Ranch.
“Throughout all this, there’s just so many
people saying, ‘it worked, that this was the vision, this is the
reason we moved here,’” Hall told CNN.
Perhaps the highest endorsement for the city
is that it is now a refuge for some of Ian’s hardest-hit victims. The
state opened Babcock Neighborhood School as an official shelter, even
though it didn’t have the mandated generator. The solar array kept the
lights on.
Some of Chorpenning’s friends who live on
Sanibel Island — which is now
cut off from the mainland after Ian’s devastating storm surge
severed the causeway — came to shelter at a friend’s house at Babcock
Ranch. It will be a while before they can go back, she said.
“They’re going to be renting a place over
here for a while, while they figure out what’s going to happen out
there,” she said. “I joked that we may be the only people in southwest
Florida whose property value just increased.”
Even Kitson chose to ride out the storm in
Babcock to see how the community would fare in the hurricane. Kitson
declined CNN’s request for an interview; Hall said he is focused on
helping neighboring communities rebuild.
“He was there during the storm; he said,
‘where else would I be?’” Hall said. “We built it to be resilient and
as much as you plan and think you’ve done the right thing, you don’t
know until you put it to the test.”
Babcock Ranch has sold more than
2,000 homes, according to the neighborhood's website. Dennis
Stephenson/Alamy
As utilities scramble to restore power
across the state, Babcock residents say September storms showed that
America’s energy infrastructure is not well-equipped to handle
worsening extreme weather events. Hurricane Fiona ravaged Puerto
Rico’s power grid when it made landfall there on September 18. Now,
Ian has left millions of people in the dark in Florida.
Babcock residents say their neighborhood is
a model for urban development in a climate change-ravaged future.
“It’s not what it was 20 or 25 years ago;
the storms are getting bigger and bigger, and it’s no surprise,
because the warnings have all been there,” Grande said. “I think
Babcock Ranch’s future has gotten even brighter.”
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