HOA Put 60 Solar Panels on My Land — Then the Utility Asked, “Who Authorized This?”
Chapter 15
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A contractor's temporary sign stood near the access track. I read its project number and the words describing the job as a community solar initiative. I had no argument with the first half of that phrase. A community could decide to invest in cleaner energy, and its members could accept the price and maintenance responsibilities if they chose. My problem was that the word community had apparently expanded downhill just far enough to include someone else's property.The utility truck arrived shortly after nine the next morning. It was a white pickup with company markings on the doors and a rack carrying safety equipment. The driver parked on the designated access area, stepped out with a tablet, and introduced himself as Aaron Blake. He was neither impressed by the black panels nor intimidated by the people waiting beside them. That was the first thing I liked about him.Vanessa stood near the connection cabinet in her bright red blazer, flanked by two board members, Gerald Pike and Helen Morris. Ryan had come from the contractor's office, wearing a collared work shirt and carrying a folder thick enough to bend under his arm. The group looked like the committee at a ribbon cutting, though no ribbon had been brought and no one had asked me to attend. I stayed near the fence with Naomi's notice and Caleb's survey in my folder.Aaron began with the equipment. He checked the meter reference, disconnect arrangement, inverter nameplate, warning labels, and identifiers associated with the interconnection application. He entered numbers into his tablet and followed the cable route toward the array. Nobody interrupted him at first because he moved with the steady confidence of someone whose authority was too narrow to be flattered.He walked uphill, then downhill, looking from the field to his screen. At one point he stopped beside a row of panels and looked toward the subdivision curb. He came back to the cabinet, opened it, and studied a label for several seconds. The change in his expression was slight, but I recognized it immediately: the moment a person realizes that two things presented as identical may not be."We should be ready to go," Vanessa said. "The HOA approved the project months ago."Aaron glanced at her. "Who authorized this connection?""The board approved the project," she answered, lifting her phone.He closed the cabinet carefully. "That's not what I asked. What property is this array installed on?"Ryan looked down at his construction drawing. "This is the final location approved by our client.""I understand that's where you built it," Aaron said. "I need to establish whether it's the location shown in the interconnection application."Vanessa stepped toward them. "The installation is in the association's utility-use area."Aaron looked past her at the fence and the cattle. "The file I'm reviewing does not appear to match the location I'm standing in."The board members stopped whispering. I could hear wind moving between the panels and a truck somewhere on the county road. Vanessa opened her folder and produced the familiar board resolution. Aaron glanced at it, then handed it back without treating it as an answer.