Paid months ago for whole house solar with battery back up. Install was scheduled for next week.

County just responded saying they are changing ordinance in 2023 and probably won’t look at ours until after as they are lumping ours in 2023.

Beyond pissed to the point that I really just want to sell everything and move to another county. Waiting on response from solar company too.

If they don’t approve until Jan we probably couldn’t install until march

We will lose 6+ months that we paid for

Just venting as we have over $50k invested

You could probably fight that in court

Easier to ask for forgiveness than seek permission?

Some states will consider the initial date of your design contract, as long as it’s reasonably close to the code cycle change, as grandfathering in under the prior code.

Ask about your due process.  Most are supposed to have a variance board to review decisions.  If they do ask for a variance to build under the prior code to avoid delays, extra costs etc.  As justification use the initial design date starting the project that pre dates the change in ordinance.

Don’t be afraid to ask.

Don’t be afraid to call your politicians and have them look into it.  It wouldn’t be the first time I’d seen a make this go away resolution to a problem like this.

I'd be down at the county offices when they open.

They're choosing not to work the last 4 months of the year?

Personally I'd use the lib media to my advantage.
Make a call to the local TV station letting them know all you want to do is lower your carbon footprint. You want to go green, you want to help Mother Gaia; yadda yadda yadda.
Let them know your anti-green county board is holding up your ability to do so.

You could also talk to one of your county board members and ask them why they are pausing and let them know you'll have no recourse other than going to the media if they don't allow you to install and naming board members when you talk.

Puting you off until the "new rules" kick in effect. Thus increasing their revenue stream.

A town by me just jacked up the building permit / inspection fee for those putting in solar. They saw it as a free and growing income for the local coffers.

Love it! I think the following democRAT playbook rules apply here.

RULE 1: “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.” Power is derived from 2 main sources – money and people. “Have-Nots” must build power from flesh and blood. (These are two things of which there is a plentiful supply. Government and corporations always have a difficult time appealing to people, and usually do so almost exclusively with economic arguments.)

RULE 3: “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy.” Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety, and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)

RULE 4: “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” If the rule is that every letter gets a reply, send 30,000 letters. You can kill them with this because no one can possibly obey all of their own rules. (This is a serious rule. The besieged entity’s very credibility and reputation is at stake, because if activists catch it lying or not living up to its commitments, they can continue to chip away at the damage.)

RULE 5: “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions. (Pretty crude, rude and mean, huh? They want to create anger and fear.)

RULE 8: “Keep the pressure on. Never let up.” Keep trying new things to keep the opposition off balance. As the opposition masters one approach, hit them from the flank with something new. (Attack, attack, attack from all sides, never giving the reeling organization a chance to rest, regroup, recover and re-strategize.)

RULE 9: “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.” Imagination and ego can dream up many more consequences than any activist. (Perception is reality. Large organizations always prepare a worst-case scenario, something that may be furthest from the activists’ minds. The upshot is that the organization will expend enormous time and energy, creating in its own collective mind the direst of conclusions. The possibilities can easily poison the mind and result in demoralization.)

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions. (This is cruel but very effective. Direct, personalized criticism and ridicule works.)

Thanks for all replies!

So the wife does not want me to go contacting media and politicians as she is afraid it could backfire on us and the county office could find ways to make our life suck.

Solar company had nothing to say yet even though we paid them $53,000 to take care of all this stuff months ago.

I’m just sick to my stomach as energy independence was going to help my peace of mind and help hedge high energy costs that are just around the corner.

Still sick to my stomach

If you are in this 53k I would be talking to a lawyer to either get your money back from the solar company, or to put pressure on the county to let you do this now.  They have to be doing somthing shady to delay you like this

I contacted the county executive

The guy got back to me and said they are holding two permits for the longest allowable time (rule they made) until they have a plan and ordinance. That will go for review in November. Wow guy has no plan or clue but we have to suffer for his lack of planning.


Or they were told not to let anymore solar get installed? My county did let the city burn not too long ago. I hate to get all Alex jones but this is just crazy. It’s just like “you have to have an electric car….but don’t charge it we are not prepared  for this”

They should be happy we are going green

I wish I was connected like hunter b

Get a copy of the ordinance.  Many building codes have time limits for your submission must be approved  or denied.  Find out what that limit is.  My hunch is they don’t have that time if they already have your plans.

Two, stick to your guns.  Your submission is frozen under the codes from the day they receive it, or the post marked date.  They cannot force projects already in queue to go back through redesign because they happen to pass new regulations while they hold the plan approval.

If it’s going to cost you a bunch of money to wait and redesign have a lawyer send them a letter reminding them of how this actually works because this story they are feeding you is not typical.  I know you don’t want to rock the boat but you have the ability to resolve this if you push hard enough.

$53k buys a lot of bulldozer.

And this is why my permit and application to interconnect with the local electric co-op was submitted before I bought or paid for any PV solar equipment.  

The forms have a pre build design review and a post construction review.  There is almost no way I can get any specific set of components month to month.  The market is too low on parts and availability changes daily.

I'll be pushing the as-built red line design changes pretty hard.

Go talk to an attorney specializing in municipal law.  Cities/counties pull this shit all the time thinking they don't have to follow the rules.  They do.  Rarely, if ever, can they adjust rules on the fly.

Why did your installer wait this long to pull permits? Sounds like he should at least split the difference for the increased costs due to dragging his feet on acquiring permitting. Reading further it sounds like your installer can eat the pricing changes. And you get what will hopefully be a better installation.

That's where I'm at.  I'm assuming you had an approved permit for the install and now the county is reconsidering?  If so, F' that.  I would tell the county I already have a signed contract and an install date scheduled so I'm proceeding.

I would make sure to go to the next county commission meeting.
There is a public comment section where you should get like 3 minutes.
Make sure the commissioners know about your issue.
Make it public and on the record.  Ask them why you are being forced to wait.
Be respectful and to the point.  Read a prewritten statement if necessary.  

My wife actually contacted the county board supervisor and I contacted the county Representative.

I showed some civil engineering friends the letter and they said fight it as it was lacking any contingency planning and thought.

I reached out to a lawyer too, but really don’t want to have to pay anymore.

You mentioned you paid the solar company to take care of this...   THAT sounds like a breech of contract if they cannot deliver...   Not your problem THEY waited to obtain permits...

I don't think id rock the boat over $53,000 either...

... I'd open up a full broadside until the MFer was a the bottom.  

Nobody is going to care more about your investments/money/quality of life than you are OP.  Which is going to be less of a draw on you; sitting on it and stewing while you hope they don't screw you (which could cost you a lot of money), or taking actions (which likely will cost you a little money) to try to prevent them from screwing you?  The answer to that question really should tell you what you need to do.  

I suspect you already know what that is yourself and just want a little moral support.  If so, you have it; do what you need to do to protect yourself and your investments OP.

Don't know about your local rules or what authority they are citing, but generally if you had it in on X date and conformed, they cannot make it suddenly and arbitrarily non-conforming......Case law is VERY clear on this.

Might do an an end around and call or visit the county attorney.  He will be the one to defend such stupidity.  Even our backwards little farm town has an attorney to advise on our local planning board meetings to prevent dumbassery from causing,problems later.

If he was smart he’d advise them that stonewalling you does nothing good for them.

got approved!

Local politicians that my wife contacted helped clarify To the boss of The land use guy (that  is a typical government employee that just wanted to do bare minimum).

Start a rumor that the "delays" are because the County wants to TAX your energy savings AND any energy you might put back into the system because you went solar. Might as well have some fun while you wait on your stuff to get done.

Great news OP, I was feeling sick for you.  The crap they put people through for no reason.

panels are up and mounted and batteries are in basement. Almost there!!!!