RELAC Didn't Do It: With Yet Another Closure, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Maybe for Good This Time

Sad news for fans of humid air, peeling wallpaper, and jet-age technology: RELAC announced Friday that it is discontinuing operations, saying that “rising operating costs, aging infrastructure, and a decline in participation have made it impossible to sustain the utility in a reliable, safe and financially responsible way.”

The Reston Association quickly issued a statement saying it's not involved and has no oversight over RELAC, not our problem nosiree!, but just the same reminded property owners not to forget Section VI.3(d)(15) of the Reston Deed.  For those of you who haven't committed the Deed to memory as required in that thick binder of disclosure documents you signed when you bought your home, that's the part about requiring homes with RELAC connections to use it and not that new-fangled "air conditioning" people keep prattling on about. (Presumably Section VI.3(d)(16) has something about bell bottoms being part of the mandatory Reston dress code, but the dog ate our dog-eared copy.)

But we digress. Similar closure news happened a couple of years back, but there was talk then about turning it into some socialist co-op, and then RELAC was handed over to a contractor, and the tepid air kept a'comin', except when it didn't. Residents reported multiple outages this summer, with temperatures inside some homes reaching 85 degrees or higher. 

Other homeowners reported that the system stopped working on Friday. Your intrepid Restonian On Your Side I-Team Action McNews correspondent had noticed earlier in the week that unsettling grinding and clanking noises were coming from the RELAC machinery near Lake Anne, but attributed them to the incredibly low water levels of rain-starved Lake Anne, which provides the juice for the system, if by "juice," you mean "tepid water for the tubes."

What will RA leadership do? Give us some good blockquote:

RA leadership will be meeting to discuss next steps in the coming days and will keep affected members updated on the process. For the latest information, please continue to visit the RELAC page on RA’s website.

We will! Referenda to remove the RELAC requirement failed in 2024, 2015 and 2008. We're guessing it won't fail again if put up to a vote. 

For all our jokes made comfortably within the air-conditioned nerve center of Restonian World Headquarters, RELAC's latest shutdown is still a shame. In the heat of the summer, it's nice to walk through neighborhoods without the sound of individual AC units droning away, but it's probably nicer to have a home or business that doesn't feel like a sauna. The RA did provide a medical opt-out for the system, which multiple operators have said siphoned off enough customers over the years to make the math not math. So not a great situation for anyone involved, and a little bit of what made Reston a little bit different when it was founded is likely going away. 

So pour one out for RELAC, but leave that drink of choice out of the fridge for at least 45 minutes before doing so, the end.