As a prairie state, Kansas has abundant opportunity for sun and wind energy production. (Mischa Keijser/Getty Images)
Alan Bauman would put solar panels on his Prairie Village home if he could. He’d like to benefit from the savings on his energy bill and have more security when his electric utility suffers power outages.
But his homeowners association restricts his and neighbors’ ability to install solar power.
“These restrictions are an intrusion into my financial choices and decisions. … I don’t have the choice to reduce my utility bills, which are high and escalating every year,” Bauman told lawmakers Wednesday.
Along with solar panel installation companies and fellow would-be solar panel owners, Bauman urged the Kansas House Local Government Committee to pass legislation that would prohibit homeowners associations from restricting or banning solar panels. Such “punitive” restrictions, they argued, are banned in dozens of states.
Zack Pistora, a lobbyist for the environmental nonprofit Sierra Club, said even states led by largely conservative legislatures were passing similar bills.