Hundreds of residents around Lake Anne in Reston are facing new uncertainty over how they will cool down their homes as the weather heats up.
SpringRELAC, a resident-run nonprofit, announced yesterday (Tuesday) that its authority to operate the central air-conditioning system that provides chilled water from the man-made lake to surrounding properties hasn’t been renewed for the 2025 season.
There are also no plans for the nonprofit to take ownership of the cooling system known as RELAC from the Reston/Lake Anne Air Conditioning Corporation (Reston RELAC), the State Corporation Commission-governed private utility that had run the service for more than a decade.
“We appreciate this raises questions and concerns for customers regarding the future of the services,” springRELAC said in its announcement, directing community members to contact Reston RELAC for “further commentary” on what will happen next.
Residential property owners in certain clusters with access to the Lake Anne cooling system are required to use it by Reston Association’s (RA) deed, which prohibits individual air-conditioning units. Medical exemptions are available but must be approved by RA’s covenants committee and Design Review Board.
RELAC is currently used by 343 townhomes, 258 condominiums and 25 commercial units in the Vantage Hill and Lake Anne condos as well as the Waterview, Hickory, Washington Plaza, Wainwright, Coleson and Governor’s Square clusters, according to RA.
There have been multiple attempts to scrap RA’s ban on individual AC units, most recently last spring, but in each case, the referendum has fallen short of the two-thirds majority required for a repeal.
The system’s sustainability came into question after Reston RELAC announced in December 2023 that it will halt operations after that year, detailing struggles to keep up with rising electrical costs and fund upgrades in part due to “a significant number of customers” not paying their bills.
In response, a group of residents led by Simon McKeown banded together to form a new entity called Relac Water Cooling that they hoped could eventually operate the cooling system as a community-owned cooperative. McKeown registered the entity as a nonprofit with the SCC in February 2024.
With help from community donations to pay for equipment repairs and replacements, Relac Water Cooling restarted air-conditioning services last May, in time for an especially hot summer.
Financial questions held up sales agreement, Reston RELAC says
McKeown was working through the SCC process to get ownership of the utility transferred to springRELAC when he passed away on Dec. 1, 2024, Reston RELAC President Mark Waddell said in a message sent to customers today (Wednesday).
According to an obituary, McKeown was being treated for cancer, but his death “came unexpectedly.” He was 70 years old.
SpringRELAC and Relac Water Cooling — both entities created by McKeown, with the former designated as the future owner of the cooling system and the latter as the operator — were handed off to his widow, Anna Kristen Uhler-McKeown.
Though a final sales agreement wasn’t yet signed, springRELAC announced on Jan. 6 that it remained committed to operating the cooling service for the 2025 season.
Waddell says he and Reston RELAC owner Mike Coleman went to a meeting with Uhler-McKeown and her attorney on March 11 anticipating that they would sign the final deal to transfer ownership. Instead, they were given an amended service agreement to let Relac Water Cooling continue operating the cooling system while the SCC approved the transfer.
“This amendment would allow operations through Dec 1, 2025 and stated that the sale to springRELAC would not occur, and they would not be responsible for preparing for the 2026 cooling season,” Waddell said.
Concerned about how the utility will be funded in future seasons under the amended agreement, Reston RELAC leaders requested additional financial information and a due diligence period so they could determine whether to accept the changes, Waddell told FFXnow.
However, in a March 19 email, Uhler-McKeown’s lawyer said they were withdrawing the proposed agreement with little explanation, according to Waddell. Reston RELAC was told that the requested financial information would be forthcoming, but as of today, it hasn’t been provided.
“Until I get that information I cannot say whether we can get someone to operate the system or have to shut it down,” Waddell said in his message to customers. “I am really sorry that this has come so close to when the cooling system should be getting prepared for the season.”
Waddell told FFXnow it’s still possible that Relac Water Cooling could take over the utility but admitted “I don’t know where we go from here.” He pledged to provide another update to customers by this Friday (March 28).
Reston Association monitoring situation
RA says it will continue monitoring the RELAC situation but has no direct affiliation with or oversight over the utility.
“The Association and its Board of Directors are very aware of the potential challenges as a result of this unique situation and are exploring ways to assist its affected members that are within the Association’s purview,” RA said in a statement.
The Lake Anne cooling system was established in the mid-1960s when Reston was just getting started as a community. In recent years, some residents have argued that RELAC has become inefficient and that homeowners should have a choice, while others have defended it as more aesthetically acceptable and worried that allowing more people to opt out of the system will lead to increased rates for those who stay.
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn’s office has a list of resources that affected RELAC customers can turn to if the utility doesn’t continue services. This year, the county will accept applications for its cooling assistance program — which is available to households with seniors, kids 5 and younger or individuals with disabilities — starting on June 17.
