Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC), powers Patagonia, Sonoita, Elgin, Canelo, the large ranches and just about every TV and light bulb in the area between the Santa Rita and Huachuca Mountains.

Now, some residents are ready to flip a switch on the rural cooperative that is determined to export coal-fired energy on a new 69,000 volt power line into this community the utility planned to start building this fall.

In addition, the Arizona Corporation Commission on Sept. 8 issued a decision prohibiting the construction of the line. The decision further ordered SSVEC to conduct an independent study to look at feasible alternative power, including renewable energy sources. The co-op must file a report of its findings with the ACC by June 30, 2010, according to the decision.

Area residents say they would like to generate all of their own electricity through wind, biomass, geothermal and solar and sell any excess back to SSVEC. Achieving that goal in the next few years will make this an end-of-the-line community – among the first places in the nation to meet President Barack Obama's call for energy independence and reliance on renewable resources.

The catalyst for this movement was the product of SSVEC pushing a utility corridor through the pristine grasslands of the Babocomari Ranch, which is the largest Mexican Land Grant Ranch in the United States.

Some residents have rallied to stop the 69kv Power Line, because it is a 25-year-old plan that is no longer the most efficient or cost effective solution.

Using ratepayer dollars (in a cooperative the rate payers are the owner/members of the co-op), SSVEC has hired a legal firm to fight their own customers. Their latest act was to file a motion with the Arizona Corporation Commission to impose a moratorium on new electrical hook ups in this area until they can build the 69kV line.

In the United States, there is at least one rural community in the process of becoming energy independent and two that have pursued similar projects: Capay Valley, Calif. The University of California at Davis is conducting a study to see how much electricity the valley uses and whether it could be generated through local, renewable resources. The community hopes to generate all of its own electricity through wind, water and solar and sell any excess back to Pacific Gas and Electric.

Greensburg, Kan., flattened by a tornado in 2007, is rebuilding and attempting to generate electricity primarily through wind turbines. In a speech earlier this year, Obama said it was "a global example of how clean energy can power an entire community."

Rock Port, Mo., population 1,400, announced last year that it was the first town in the United States to be 100 percent wind-powered. Giant wind turbines on the edge of town tower over the rolling farmland of northwestern Missouri.

The small size of these communities was a factor in their ability to provide their own energy. Northeast Santa Cruz County could soon join their ranks, if the feasibility study warrants use of renewable options.