While America is ravaged by a severe recession and the global economic system wavers, some Americans are taking command of the situation by creating an independent local economy. Off the Grid is a film about the creation of new local communities, which clearly differ from each other, but have in common that they have started from a local idea. One of them is searching for an answer to life after peak oil and is preparing for the coming climate change, another issued their own currency that supports the local economy and a third one is based strongly on the idea of individual freedom which minimises the influence of the local government. This film challenges today's economic system and pictures the alternatives.