Chasing Windmills: The Not-So-Impossible Dream

April 20, 2007— -- On Thursday, Joe Guasti hailed his 100th windmill.

His construction company in Oak Hills, Calif., erects the steel giants for homeowners in the high desert of San Bernardino County. It all started in his backyard.

"I'm getting a big kick out of it," said 47-year-old Guasti. "My dream that I've had since high school has come true, where we could produce power for our family and not have to have an electric bill for it."

In December 2000, Guasti realized his childhood dream, christening his very own backyard windmill. He hasn't paid an electric bill since. At 100 feet high, the blades of the backyard windmill carve out a 22-foot-diameter circle in the sky, supplying electricity to the Guastis' five-bedroom, four-bathroom home and all its electronic trappings.

"We have two side-by-side refrigerator freezers, two washers, two dryers, two or three computers, a large screen television … two or three iPods plugged in at any time, " said Joe's wife, Beverly Guasti, as he chuckled by her side like a mischievous kid, tickled by what he'd done with the wind.

"The kids just don't know … that you could unplug something or turn it off. We don't have to pay for power. So they just use it," Beverly said.

When neighbor Gus Sansome got wind of what the Guastis were doing, the concept charged the retired engineer's imagination.

"I'm not a tree-hugger. I'm not an activist," said Sansome, but he liked the potential savings. Nine months later, with a newly installed windmill astride his home, he too paid his last electricity bill.

Then came the backlash.

Neighbors complained of the noise, the threat to birds and, most of all, the eyesore to the much-cherished desert scape of Oak Hills, about 90 minutes outside of Los Angeles.

In the local paper's editorial column, a robust community debate ensued. Some found the windmills terribly noisy. Others didn't mind. Some found them an offense to the pristine landscape. Others took pride in the sight of clean energymakers on the horizon. Nobody disputed the allegation that birds got caught and killed in the path of the blades, but some pointed out that airplanes killed more birds.

Energy independence, financial savings and environmental preservation were, and are, the Guastis' counter to detractors. While most of the outraged stayed outraged, other neighbors started calling up with questions. Then the orders started coming in.