100 Miles South Of Salt Lake City, A New Type Of Off-Grid Community

By Allan Stein of The Epoch Times

The big pickup truck went rolling down the dirt road, kicking up dust as Phil Gleason drove past workmen in hardhats and yellow vests digging a well for a new solar-powered home.

Miles away from any strip mall or cookie-cutter subdivision, the off-grid community known as Operation Self-Reliance bloomed with housing construction in the Utah desert.

“Think of all the dependencies hen we’re in the cities,” said Mr. Gleason, 74, the community’s founder. “We have to drink the water they give us. We have to deal with trash pickup and pesticides.”

“I’m not saying it’s all bad. It wasn’t what I wanted. I needed to do something else.”