Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

An estimated 1.4 million Michiganders who live within a home owners association could soon be allowed to install rooftop solar panels and other "energy-saving equipment" free from their HOA interfering. That's after state Democrats pushed through the Homeowners’ Energy Policy Act in accordance with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's goal to reach 60-percent renewable energy by 2035.

The legislation’s chief sponsor, state Rep. Ranjeev Puri, D-Canton Township, said residents in his district contacted him after their HOA stopped them from making energy-efficient changes to their homes, according to Bridge Michigan.

Critics argue HB 5028 is poorly drafted, allowing individual owners to install solar panels on a roof without regard to whether the installation of that solar panel will have a negative impact on the maintenance responsibilities of the association, any roof warranty that could exist, that would otherwise benefit the community, and even the association’s ability to get insurance.

“We would have preferred that the Legislature would have encouraged the use of energy-saving improvements, and come up with ways to incentivize them or prioritize them, but still allow communities to make their independent choices,” says attorney Matt Heron, legislative action committee co-chair of the Michigan chapter of the National Community Associations Institute.

HOAs historically oppose aesthetic changes without approval, fearing they could reduce property values.

“We think this bill is going to undermine that self-governance, at least from a policy perspective, by taking the decision making we would prefer be in the hands of the individual boards, elected by the members, and replacing it with the view of the Legislature,” says Heron.

“Whether you’re two units. Whether you’re three units. Whether you’re 5,000 units. Every single association in the state of Michigan, the Legislature has dictated must adopt a solar panel policy within one year.”

He anticipates numerous challenges to surface once Gov. Whitmer signs the bill into law.

“You could have instances where an association is responsible for taking care of a roof. The association is responsible for maintaining it and may have obtained its own warranty and the association is responsible for paying insurance on the roof,” he says.

Among the bill’s supporters is the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council, a trade organization of solar power and renewable energy companies.

“In essence, this does appear to be reflective of an industry’s desire that every community, and this is reaching roughly a million-and-a-half people in the state of Michigan, have a favorable solar panel policy that would encourage and promote the use of solar panels. And it does assist that industry,” Heron added.