Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Daniel Kaufman, owner of Nature Way Country Store, walks through the utility room of his store in Giles County. Kaufman uses a diesel-powered generator (left) to power freezers.

WHITE GATE -- A customer stopping at Nature Way Country Store for a drink or a scoop of ice cream probably wouldn't notice that the coolers and freezers are powered not by Appalachian Power Co. but by a diesel engine.

Nature Way, like most Amish-owned businesses and households, exists "off the grid" using alternative fuel sources such as propane lights. But even the Amish tradition of self-sufficiency hasn't insulated this small business community from rising fuel prices.

At Ferman Yutzy's diesel-powered woodworking shop on Songbird Lane, rising fuel prices are biting into profits. Fuel surcharges on the lumber and tin Yutzy uses to build his sheds, small barns and gazebos have added to the problem.

"You hate to go up on your prices," Yutzy says. But he doesn't see any way around it.

In 2007, Nature Way owner Danny Kaufman said he was paying about $2 a gallon for off-road diesel to power his coolers and freezers. This month, he's paying more than $4 a gallon. One recent bill for three weeks worth of diesel totaled about $700.

"That diesel fuel," Kaufman said, shaking his head. "I don't know what we're going to do."

Then he clarified, as residents of Walker Mountain are likely to do when voicing anything that might sound critical.

"I'm not complaining," he said. "We're looking at alternatives."

On the back of a notepad, he sketches a design for a geothermal electrical system he's heard about. Kaufman said he's also considering solar, wind and even hydrogen power.

Those outside the Amish community might wonder why the "Plain People" -- as they are sometimes known -- won't just hook up to the electrical grid. What's the difference, after all, between depending on diesel fuel delivered by a truck and depending on the electrical grid to deliver power to your business?

"Amish people interpret linking with electrical wires as a connection with the world," according to the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom Web site.

That direct connection is prohibited by a literal interpretation of the Bible, in which Romans 12:2 commands followers to "be not conformed to this world."

And, in 1919, "the Amish leaders agreed that connecting to power lines would not be in the best interest of the Amish community," the Web site states.

For Kaufman, it's more about spiritual discipline.

The convenience of electricity-on-demand "might be a temptation to get things we don't really need," he said.