Grand-Thinking Va. Mayor Seeks Town's Energy Independence

When Fitch unveiled the first inklings of his plan to the Town Council several months ago, the reception was less than warm, Lewis said.

"I thought he was nuts," he said.

But Lewis and others have been swayed, not only by Fitch's promise to spend very little taxpayer money but also by a recent effort by the Bush administration to encourage alternative energy sources that could, among other goals, reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil.

A key component of President Bush's plan is ethanol, a gasoline substitute primarily generated from corn. Researchers have devised ways to create it from biomass -- agricultural waste, some types of trash, manure and crops such as switch grass, which is native to Virginia. That technology has yet to be tested on the scale that Fitch envisions.

Some renewable energy specialists say the Virginia Piedmont, with its wide-open spaces and proximity to dense urban areas, is the perfect launching point for the nation's renewable energy revolution.

Jeff Waldon, executive director of Virginia Tech's Conservation Management Institute, says the southeast will eventually become the nation's "biomass basket." Its soil and climate, he said, are ideal for ethanol-producing grasses. An advantage particular to Northern Virginia is its proximity to urban markets.

All that could help revive East Coast farms, which have been struggling to stay economically viable, he said.

"There's some really interesting thinking going on, especially in the agricultural community, and that's what's really exciting to us," Waldon said.

Some national security experts have been calling for the decentralization of the electrical grid, leaving it less susceptible to terrorist attacks. That has made Fitch's plan, which calls for the production of electricity in addition to ethanol as part of a joint process, appealing to his conservative constituents.

Local farmers -- by all accounts a conservative bunch not beguiled by a lot of technology -- are casting an optimistic eye toward Fitch's plan, which could offer them new economic opportunities.

"I'm not holding my breath, but I'd dearly love to see them grind up some of that stuff and convert it into a useful product," said John Schied, who owns a cow-calf operation just outside of Warrenton.

But the project's greatest advantage could be Fitch himself. A man of boundless enthusiasm, he is building a $25 million recreation center, paying for it almost exclusively through budget surpluses. Under his watch, the town shrunk the real estate tax by 82 percent without cutting services. His secret, he said, is keeping government small and making developers pay their fair share.