The inability to install solar panels on my home is enshrined in my HOA and is extremely unlikely to be overturned by our members. We should be passing laws making these types of restrictions illegal
There's a story on Reddit about someone who snuck an extension cable onto the HOA president's property and had it running something like an air conditioner full blast nonstop for months. They later said something to the effect of "oh yes, prices are going up but my friend who lives in the other city has solar and he's fine". This apparently convinced the person to change the bylaws.
Wait... Aren't you guys supposed to be the free-est nation on earth or something?
We're a country founded by slave owners who wrote things like "all men are created equal"
*Some exclusions may apply
And they meant men too, not women.
But really they meant White Male Landowners with money.
HOAs were literally created to make sure that black people couldn't buy homes. These covenants put legal blocks on the deed for eternity to keep it from happening. It didn't take long for white people to buy a house and then turn around and sell it to a black family. The entire thing crashed. What we are left with are small Karens and Chads trying to control the people around them.
Minorities in general. Some of the first HOAs excluded Blacks, Jews, Asians, etc in literal writing. It took a SCOTUS case to overturn.
They are free to die without healthcare
It was an Irishman that wrote "free to screw you before you screw me".
Colorado House Bill 21-1229 is law here now, maybe your state can pass a bill like it too?
what- the HOA folks are worried they'd see your PV panels instead of a shingled roof for the .4 seconds they see it at all while they're parking in thier driveways?
HOA should be requiring solar instead of banning it.
Where I’m from, laws were changed so communities like this can’t block lot modifications that improve a lot’s sustainability performance (e.g. rooftop solar, rainwater harvesting, etc.). Not that anyone here would block rooftop solar, it’s wildly popular.
We should be passing laws making ~~these types of restrictions~~ HOAs illegal
FTFY
America, home of the not free to do what you like with your own house.
Yes. And some states (e.g. Washington) already have.
The governing documents may not prohibit the installation of a solar energy panel by an owner or resident on the owner's or resident's property [...]
I suspect that more states will follow WA and CA and start saying that counties and cities no longer can block things like denser housing, extra units on a lot, or solar.
Would that be Republican controlled counties?
With VT and CT on the list, it seems like a NIMBY issue.
I live in uber-blue NW Oregon and even my county banned solar farms because they claim it's wasting our fertile soil that can be used for factory farming instead. The county is controlled by douchy Republicans though
I'm not sure if it wasn't clear, but THE PLANET IS DYING.
The planet itself will survive this easily, the inhabitants on the other hand...
Yep, this is what I tell people....the planet will recover just fine...but just after it's killed pretty much everything off and started over.
Nah the planet will be just fine. Humans (and other living things) though will truly be fucked.
Some living things will make it through the extinction event and the next sentient species will fuck it all up again in a billion years or so.
Maybe some of these things (at least rooftop solar, but maybe not wind turbines) ought to be guaranteed by right on a Federal basis, kind of like how the FTC prevents local governments from stopping people from putting up antennas.
The biggest barrier to consumer renewable energy is price (and it has gone down considerably already.) Big projects ensures more development, which can lead to even lower prices.
With the state of the US power grid, we need more big renewable projects everywhere. Better subsidies on home renewables to take stress off the grid. The sooner the better !
From the article it looks to be only "utility-scale" projects that are blocked, I assume that doesn't include roof solar.
I haven't heard of local ordinances myself, but I have heard of HOAs fighting them.
Is there anything a HOA won't fight?
We are really fucking bad at this
I know what they mean, but the headline makes it sound like they're building a big-ass dome across the US, to block out the sun and wind entirely.
Some of these guys believe the earth is literally under a dome already. They also seem to think that wind farms are a global conspiracy to turn them gay or something.
Blacken the sky!
Can we do that over the parts of the country still using coal?
Their interactive map says mostly the Midwest.
The Simpsons already did this bit.
I live in SE NC. Duke energy has incentives for solar and they are about to pay for the installation of my Tesla charger in my garage.... It's not all bad I guess..
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
