151 richard and robin kinley are among the retirees who move to florida every year however this couple gets to watch the sunset every night over a lake thats named after them lake kinley the sustainable babcock ranch just north of fort myers florida was built to be americas first solarpowered town and the kinleys were the first to purchase a home and move in it reminded me of the first time i saw my future wife many years ago richard kinley told abc news of his first visit to babcock ranchs model homes a year ago i fell head over heels the sun sets over one of the lakes on the babcock ranch a sustainable community north of fort myers florida babcock ranch elon musk solar energy is the key to fixing puerto ricos power grid nissan wants to redefine the future of driving with its braintovehicle technology striking images show what the environment looked like before the epa they were the towns first residents as of jan 4 even though the communitys 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 whole sustainability idea is the closest i can get to guiltfree living said kinley a selfproclaimed technophile who owns a tesla that he can charge at one of babcock ranchs stations babcock ranch is the brainchild of syd kitson the ceo of by kitson partners who said we set out some eight years ago to become the first solarpowered town in america the starting price for a home here is 185999 but can go upward of 750000 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 the ceo said he hopes to install a solar battery system for inclement weather and that the battery power to make up the difference in energy electricity rates same as everyone else said kitson of the electric bill the electric and water bills depend on usage kitson partners bought 91000 acres of land for the town in 2006 then sold the bulk of it 73000 acres to the state of florida for preservation of the wetlands and wildlife of the remaining 18000 acres only half became the babcock ranch while the other half was used for further preservation of land the outdoor area of the town center at