The Metro: Michigan homeowners associations can’t stop solar panels under new law
The Homeowners’ Energy Policy Act prohibits a homeowners association from banning rooftop solar panels and putting other energy-saving equipment on a home.
FILE - Nicholas Hartnett, owner of Pure Power Solar, holds a panel as his company installs a solar array on the roof of a home in Frankfort, Ky., July 17, 2023.
A new state law was passed yesterday that prohibits homeowners associations from banning rooftop solar panels and other energy-saving equipment.
This issue came up in a Canton, Michigan development, prompting Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton) to sponsor the Homeowners’ Energy Policy Act, which prohibits a homeowners association from banning rooftop solar panels and putting other energy-saving equipment on a home.
Puri joined The Metro on Tuesday to discuss the new legislation. He says he’s supported common sense gun laws and clean energy reforms, but the Energy Policy Act is getting a lot of attention from his constituents.
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“We’ve gotten more outreach about this Homeowners Energy Policy Act than any other legislation that I’ve had the opportunity to sponsor. There’s a lot of excitement from around the state of people who are happy that they’re able to do this now,” Puri said. “And so I don’t want to say that there’s no place at all for HOAs. There certainly is. But I think like anything, we should be evolving the way we approach things as technology and things change.”
HOA bylaws haven’t been updated to correlate with modern technologies, making this new law an important step, Puri says. There are limits to the kinds of solar panels and energy saving equipment that are permitted under HOAs.
“It’s not like we’re creating the wild west where people could come on and put enormous solar panels that hang over their roof with pink wiring, or put a giant windmill in their front yard,” Puri said. “There’s still setback requirements, it still must meet the aesthetics of the neighborhood.”
Use the media player above to hear the full interview with Puri.
More headlines from The Metro on July 9, 2024:
- The legalization of recreational marijuana caused many employers to reexamine their drug testing policies. Adrienne Roberts, a Detroit Free Press business reporter covering Michigan’s cannabis industry, joined the show to discuss where we’re at with cannabis testing in the state.
- The state saw one of the highest increases in rent prices at 12% from January 2023 to January 2024, according to a recent report. Julie Schneider, the director of Detroit’s Housing & Revitalization Department, joined The Metro to discuss the increase.
- Matthew Facciani is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Notre Dame in the Computer Science and Engineering Department. His forthcoming book, “Misguided: Where misinformation starts, how it spreads, and what to do about it,” will be published with Columbia University Press.
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