The price of fuel to warm homes and water in homes over the winter winter has county homeowners looking for an alternative.

Steve Smiley of Suttons Bay Township has relied on
renewable forms of energy - solar and wind power - for
more than 20 years. He is pictured here with his dog,
Juniper.

A Suttons Bay Township resident made that change 20 years ago.

Now Steve Smiley is looking forward to the day when 100 percent of homes in northwest Lower Michigan are powered by renewable fuel.

“It’s a race against time­— we’re running out of oil, natural gas and uranium,” said Smiley, an energy economist with more than 20 years practical experience in energy efficiency, wind and solar applications.

The 2,400-square-foot home he shares with wife, Susan Kopka, is 99 percent “off the grid.” “This will happen (to all homes) in the next decades. It may be two or four (decades) — but it’s coming soon,” he said.

Construction of Smiley’s home began in 1985 and has continued in stages. Both a 1,600 square-foot main house and 800 square-foot studio area are entirely powered using renewable fuel sources: wind, sun and wood. A seldom-used backup of natural gas is available.

“Our goal is to be 100 percent renewable, we’re not quite there,” he said.

Smiley came of age during the “Energy Crisis” in the 1970s. While many discarded the implementation of alternative energies to fossil fuels as conventional energy costs decreased, Smiley continued to embrace it.

“We’re the largest single-family home site in the county with this type of sophisticated system. We have everything (washer, dryer, appliances) found in a traditional home — all powered with renewable energy.”

Wind propels a blade, 15 feet in diameter, 85 feet above Smiley’s home on Pobuda Road. Nearby, he collects the sun’s energy with a panel measuring 64 square feet. A wood-powered boiler is used to heat water which warms the home with baseboard heat. Large batteries in the basement store energy generated and an inverter transforms the power into 120 volt current.

The home is constructed to take full advantage of the elements with “passive” solar features such as plenty of south-facing windows. Six full-grown maple trees and a south roof soffit provides additional summer shading for cooling.

“We don’t have to have air conditioning in the summer,” he said.

Smiley’s home serves as a case study for the Michigan Energy Office, Department of Labor & Economic Growth and is an example of energy (and fuel) savings.

According to a department website, the home uses about 116 kilowatt hours per month — about one-quarter of the amount used by an average home. Average monthly energy use in the region is approximately 480 kilowatt hours for urban regions and 600 kilowatt hours for rural areas.

Smiley’s energy savings is attributed to the use of energy-efficient appliances, efficient lighting, use of natural daylight and hot water heat.

Smiley works as a consultant not to individual homeowners, but to communities.

“My main focus is ‘community power,'” said Smiley, who was instrumental in placing the only commercial windmill in Leelanau County. The structure is located on the northeast corner of M-72 and Bugai Road in Elmwood Township and is owned by Traverse City Light & Power (TCLP).

Installed in 1996, the wind-driven blades have generated close to 10 million kilowatts total. It was the first commercial wind turbine installed in Michigan and for a time, the largest in the United States.

“We actually had expected that it would generate more (electricity) that it did,” said Smiley, adding that the site is not as windy as originally believed. “We’re prospecting better sites where they’ll be able to produce 30 percent more energy.”

Smiley also serves as an energy consultant to the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. His master of arts degree in geography and economics from Central Michigan University was followed by postgraduate work in environmental and energy economics at the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

A visionary, Smiley said he hopes his home’s carbon-neutral energy consumption will become more the rule than the exception. His vision for Leelanau County includes the creation of shared utilities (heat, water, electricity) which are powered by natural fuel from the sun and wind and renewable sources such as trees, which absorb carbon.

“Coal is not an option anymore,” Smiley said.

Community construction of shared facilities would spread the cost of infrastructure out further, making it more reasonable to more people.

Does he drive an electric car?

Not yet.

“I’d have to get a bigger windmill,” he joked.