Not everyone who is living the off grid life, began
as an alternative energy “loyalist.”
Some of us became involved out of necessity but as a result have learned to appreciate the uniqueness of this life. As is the case with most people however, we were raised our whole lives connected to the grid in every way. We didn’t even think about it as young people, being connected was just part of life.
This is the story of how one family going through the journey of life began down one road with a set of expectations but through the course of events found the need to alter their thinking and consider that there was a different way to live.
For us, living off grid began when we decided to purchase a different piece of property that was a bit more private and where the neighbors were not parked right next to us. We were offered a parcel of land that we felt would really work well so we set out to do some homework prior to signing the contract. We designed our house which we anticipated building ourselves since I was a General Contractor. There was a good well on the property but it had to be run by a generator. At this point living “off grid” wasn’t even on our radar so like most people, I contacted the utility company to do a site visit and provide a subsequent quote for the installation of the utility lines.
We took the information from the power company, put that into our budget and continued on with the development plan. We made sure of all of the expected costs and plugged each into the the estimate we were preparing to see if we actually wanted to continue on with the project. Once we had the overall plan and budget worked out we made the decision to move forward and signed the contract. We knew of a rental not far from our new property and contacted the owner who said we could rent the place when we sold our home.
With all of the relevant issues covered we put our home on the market and sold it within 2 months.
We moved into the rental and got all set to begin the building project. We unexpectedly came across a “UBC” modular that had just become available so we went to look at it and really liked the floor plan and the potential that it had. Yes it would need remodeling but we could get onto our new property even faster if we went this route. We were able to purchase the home for less than the material cost of the one we had designed. A “UBC” modular is a home that has been built according to the “Uniform Building Code” which is the same as any other “stick built” home. The nice thing about a UBC modular is that it is listed in the assessor’s office as a single family residence just like all other “normal” houses. The lending requirements are also simpler since some lenders don’t like the typical manufactured home.
The Snag-
When we contacted the utility company to get the lines installed they said that it wouldn’t take long to get us hooked up but that we would need to get a release signed from the neighbor since they would have to go onto his property to extend the lines to our place. We had not been made aware of this previously and didn’t even realize that this would have been an issue. We thought that the power company just naturally had the right to take power wherever it was needed. When we contacted the owner of the adjacent property, he said “sure” if we would pay him for “tying” into the lines. The money we had budgeted from the utility company’s quote would not cover the thousands of dollars extra that he wanted to charge us to tie into the lines which had apparently been installed just inside his property line (it seems that he did that on purpose.) We thought that a “utility easement” gave the power company the right to extend power lines wherever they needed to go.
Apparently there are times when “tie-in” costs are appropriate so that if someone has spent an enormous amount of money to get utility lines extended, they can recover some of those costs as others move into the area. It just would have been nice if the utility company would have volunteered that info earlier since they did in fact know the situation.
When we first realized that we were even going to need to consider off grid living we didn't really know what to expect. We had ideas bouncing around in our heads and I think quite frankly that we had some of the same notions about the whole thing as a lot of other people. We had read a few things here and there in "Mother Earth News" and the idea seemed like a far off romantic kind of thing that "other" people did. We thought it was great that it was even possible and that it would be pretty cool to live that way. Little did we realize that it would be us in the not so distant future!
As it became clear that this was actually becoming a necessity we looked online at all of the equipment and our heads began to spin at the sheer magnitude of it all. This was a completely different world that we walked into, however this was not a romanticized choice we were making- this situation was born out of true necessity.
We made several unsuccessful attempts with the power company to get the lines to our property but were told: “we won’t take on a court battle even if we know we can win.” I guess it was just their policy but it didn’t help much. Just remember that there are people you will run across who just don’t think to volunteer the facts you may need to make the most informed decision that you can. It is up to you to do ALL of the homework and not assume anything. If there could be ANY doubt about anything, go to the County Clerk’s office and the county land use office and find out all of the details about who owns what and about how you may be affected on your project. This is not just true for commercial power but also for things like solar, wind turbines and composting toilets. There are a number of reasons that you may need to pursue additional information such as whether or not you will even be allowed to live “off grid.”
What? This is America, you say?
Unfortunately it is true that there are some places that don’t want people to live off grid, just make sure you cover that base. Make sure you have all of the facts to avoid the kind of surprise that we encountered.
Once you have done your “due diligence” and are sure you really do have all of the information you need as well as all of the necessary written and signed agreements with your neighbors, you will be able to determine if you really want to buy the property. If all of that is in place and you give yourself the green light- dive in and enjoy the adventure, it will be one that you will remember for the rest of your life and it CAN be a good one.
Next: "Can I really do this?"