CAPE CORAL, Fla., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A Florida woman who has been living off the grid for about a year and a half was told that she has one month to "plug in" or deal with the authorities.

Cape Coral woman Robin Speronis doesn’t have any city power or water running into her house and relies on solar panels and treated rain water to survive. "I'm choosing to live without being dependent on the system," she told NBC-2.


Officials from Cape Coral Code Compliance met with Speronis and her attorney about the situation last week.

"When this was brought to my attention I felt like I had to act. I felt like Cape Coral was intruding in the woman's lifestyle," said Todd Allen, Speronis' attorney.

A magistrate ruled that Speronis was guilty of not being hooked up to a water supply that had been approved by the town.

"What happened here is people don't talk to us or cooperate. We don't communicate then we are forced to use the legal tools at our disposal," said Frank Cassidy of Cape Coral Code Compliance. "In the whole scheme of things, it’s no different than the hundreds of cases we deal with all the time.”

Speronis has indicated that she doesn’t plan on changing her lifestyle.

"I don't have to justify my life. They have to. That's the way our system of justice works. They have justify it. I don't," Speronis said.

[NBC-2] [Orlando Sentinel]