There's probably just one household in the Valley that doesn't have the air conditioning blasting today, but that's only because it can't. A man and his elderly mother have spent $750,000 building a house on a lot just next to the 101 Freeway; it has three stories; a four-car, drive-through garage (no, we're not sure why); a turret; and a certificate of occupancy (meaning it's been inspected and is all up to code), but it does not have a reliable source of electricity, reports the LA Times. "I thought the DWP would provide electricity like it has for every other house around here," says owner Kurt Fuller of the unelectrified house, referring to the poles in the backs of his neighbors' yards. But the LADWP can't do that without an easement from Fuller's immediate next-door neighbor.
The neighbor's house is owned by a trust, and the trust doesn't want to risk devaluing the property by putting a giant electrical pole on it, so they've refused to grant the easement. But there is another, pricier option. The DWP can run an electrical line under the 101 to connect to other power sources, but it's going to cost at least $28,000 upfront. "It's put us in kind of a pickle," says Fuller. The pickle is that he and his mother are out of cash, and without having electricity in the house, they can't even borrow against it to fund the project.
The desperate homeowners are hopeful that they can work out a repayment plan for the $28k option, but something's got to happen fast because the temporary pole they've been using to get power into the house has to come down now, too, since construction has wrapped.
Alternative suggestions to spending $28k: a generator or solar panels, says a rep for LADBS.
· No electricity in new Woodland Hills home leaves him feeling powerless [LAT]
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