
America’s first solar-powered town
Richard and Robin Kinley are among the retirees who move to Florida every year.They were the town’s first residents as of Jan. 4, even though the community’s official grand opening is in March.
Babcock Ranch was designed with sustainability in mind — from a solar energy plant to autonomous transit.
During the day, the solar plant, which is on the property just about 2 miles north of the residential area, has been built to generate more energy than the town consumes, while at night, the town is powered by a nearby natural gas plant.
When the skies are covered in dark clouds during the day that limit sunlight, the power supply switches to the natural gas that is not on the property, but less than 10 miles away.
The starting price for a home here is $185,999 but can go upward of $750,000.Homeowners pay $140 a month with just less than half that for the gigabit of internet that every home comes equipped with while the rest is for things like neighborhood maintenance and amenties, Kitson said.
Kitson & Partners bought 91,000 acres of land for the town in 2006, then sold the bulk of it, 73,000 acres, to the state of Florida for preservation of the wetlands and wildlife.
Of the remaining 18,000 acres, only half became the Babcock Ranch while the other half was used for further preservation of land.
The Babcock Ranch’s autonomous shuttle is one of 65 in the world.Every house is equipped with fiberoptic cable that runs underground.
The area can hold 19,500 homes and 6 million square feet of retail space, but only around 45 homes have been built so far.
For 2018, Kitson & Partners estimates at least 200 to 300 homes to be contracted.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/americas-solar-powered-town/story?id=52463114