Gagen: Thinking of going solar in Pitkin County? Think again

If you are thinking about trying to go green and get a solar system installed in Pitkin county, you might want to think twice. We had a small solar system installed on our property back in February. Since February, we have had to have a 80-90-foot long, 2-foot deep, 10-inch wide electrical conduit ditch in the middle our driveway which is an enormous hazard for our young kids.

For some reason the Pitkin County inspectors will not come and inspect our solar system, or even just the ditch so we could cover it up for our kids safety. The contractor has been trying to work with them with no success. It seems that if you are installing a massive 20-plus-acre solar panel system by the airport it is no problem. But, if someone wants to install a very small system on their 1-acre property it is a big problem.

We never thought we would encounter these issues in Pitkin County of all places, where it seems being green is always the latest buzzword. But, evidently that is not the case. So take my advice: Don’t try to install solar here, it is a huge pain in the butt.

Bill Gagen

Snowmass