[knoebber]

Up here in Northern California quite a few of us live off grid with just solar/batteries. What law says that a grid hookup is required? Is it at the county level?

[rwbt]

Most counties require houses to be hooked up to the grid. That's why people who prefer living off grid choose unincorporated lands.

[nonethewiser]

Most counties in California

[jjeaff]

Most all urban and suburban areas. I think it's usually municipalities that have these requirements.

[a9h74j]

The Earthship Community (dirt in tires homes) in New Mexico eventually had to register as a subdivision and put in sewage lines etc, AFAIK.

[yencabulator]

That's crazy because there's houses with septic tanks all over Northern New Mexico -- outside the cities.

[tguvot]

iirc it works through building code. it has some parts related to grid hookup and without it house won't be up to code/pass inspection. Not sure what are implication in this case

[sowbug]

They turn off your power if you don't pay your electric bill. Do they keep charging a hookup fee after they've unhooked you?

(I know the answer is yes, because the answer to this kind of question is always yes...)

[tguvot]

they will also send your bills to collections, which will be rather unpleasant, i guess

[HyperSane]

Why would you want to live off the grid? Battery solar is more expensive than utility power.

[azinman2]

Until you’re building transmission to your house

[HyperSane]

Don't build a house where there aren't any power lines.

[BuckyBeaver]

He just defeated your argument, so now you're telling everyone to be helpless.

Brilliant.

[HyperSane]

Dude is complaining about a 100% predictable consequence of his own actions.

[BuckyBeaver]

Wrong. Re-read.

[matheusmoreira]

Because power outages are extremely annoying and eliminating dependencies is a good thing.

[HyperSane]

They are also very rare and a simple diesel or natural gas generator is a far cheaper method of getting power during an outage.

[matheusmoreira]

> They are also very rare

Not where I live.

> a simple diesel or natural gas generator is a far cheaper method of getting power during an outage.

Not self-sustainable. The goal is completely self-contained energy generation. Dependence on externally sourced fuels fails the requirements.

[kcb]

$75K could get you an insane solar system.

[HyperSane]

It could also be invested and pay for decades of electricity.

[BuckyBeaver]

No, because if you bothered to read what he said, it would cost that much to INSTALL it... and THEN pay more in a lifetime of very high bills.

[HyperSane]

Only because HE chose to build his house in an area without power lines.

[BuckyBeaver]

You sure work hard to promote helplessness. Do you feel helpless?

[NullPrefix]

Until the next price hike

[HyperSane]

Solar power from a battery is the most expensive electricity.