WHISPERING RANCH, Ariz. — Tucked amid the cactus and coyotes, nearly 6 miles off paved roads and 60 miles from downtown Phoenix, is Gordon Briggs' humble desert home.

Three arrays of solar panels on the roof and ground reveal the extreme effort required to live off the power grid, in the desert. So do the two small wind turbines that cut the air overhead, the battery assembly on the porch, and the small refrigerator covered with insulation in the house.

This corner of the desert is a virtual hotbed of energy-independence experts because the land was subdivided and sold to investors in the 1960s and 1970s, long before utilities considered serving the region. Now, bringing public power to the area is even more complicated.

Some of the people appreciate the seclusion and prefer that utilities stay out of the nearly 19,000 acres they call "The Ranch." Others have been waiting years for power lines to arrive, including real estate agents who want to see land values and sales commissions rise.

Meanwhile, the people who have moved in over the years have learned to cope.

For them, using compact-fluorescent light bulbs isn't a political statement but a necessity. Repairing diesel generators is a highly coveted skill, and solar panels get passed along to friends in wills.

Unlike off-the-grid homes in cool places, where people can bundle up and burn inexpensive wood, heating oil or even coal to stay warm, desert dwellers only have the choice of electric cooling or sweating.

Some residents have air-conditioners, but they are mostly used as a backup to swamp coolers. And everyone out here already knows swamp coolers run more efficiently by replacing the fan with one borrowed from a car's radiator.

Briggs knew what he was getting into when he moved to the remote Whispering Ranch area 11 years ago, joining about 200 families spread among the hills.

"I wondered if you could do it, and it's worked out good," the retired correctional officer and truck driver from Oregon said. "I can keep it under 80 degrees in the house pretty much all summer."

Briggs' solar panels and small wind turbines spinning their 2-foot blades charge 12 golf-cart batteries that he says can store power to keep his 800 square feet of space lit for three days if necessary.

He's conscientious about using other appliances like the television. After finding a reliable satellite provider recently for high-speed Internet service, Briggs had to buy another solar panel because his e-mails required more electricity.

Count Briggs among those not interested in public utilities.

"I'm happy the way I am," he said, conceding it would raise the value of his 10 acres. "I didn't come out here to make money on real estate."

But with diesel prices setting records in Arizona last fall, Whispering Ranch residents Eddy and Susie Hudson would be willing to lose some seclusion if it meant getting reliable electricity.

The last time the Hudsons asked Arizona Public Service Co. about extending power a mile and a half from the existing grid to their house, the estimate was an out-of-reach $300,000.

Bringing public power to the area is much more difficult than with master-planned housing and commercial development, considering there are hundreds of five-acre parcels. Each property owner has a different opinion about development, who should pay, and where the lines would go. Community planners usually decide those things before people move to an area.

Some people are more fortunate because they live closer to the lines, and as they add power, they bring it closer, both literally and financially, to the others.

Claudia Gomez and her husband, Francisco Javier, lived with a generator and solar panels for more than a decade before they chipped in with some nearby property owners to extend power lines to their land.

"It's hard living," said Gomez, who raised three children in the house before it was connected to the grid. "Our batteries only held power until about 3 in the morning in the summer. Then you'd start sweating and you'd get up and open the doors."

When the children would return from school, the family would turn on the generator so they could watch television and take baths, she said.

They spent more than $500 a month fueling the generator and learned to conserve.

"Your small appliances take up incredible amounts of electricity," she said. "With solar only, there's no pulling out your blow dryer."