What happens when you buy an electric car but you can't charge its battery? That's the question facing an Ottawa man whose condominium board has taken a dim view to his power needs.

Michael Nemat bought his Chevrolet Volt in November. He has an electrical outlet next to his outdoor parking spot, so he can plug in the car's block heater during the winter.

There's just one problem: he's not allowed to use the outlet to charge his car.

Charging the General Motors-made vehicle costs about $1 per night, he told CTV Ottawa. But members of the board argue that letting him plug in is akin to sticking the other residents with his "gas" bill.

Nemat has offered to pay for the extra electricity.

"I offered to pay them pretty much whatever they wanted within some degree of reason and they still didn't accept my offer," he said.

The other owners have raised the possibility of cutting Nemat off by disconnecting the socket.

However, they say they've got nothing against electric cars.

"Any way to save power and money and keep the air clean is certainly worth it," said resident Jean Coulas.

Residents just don't want to pay for somebody else to recharge one.

"Everybody'd be paying for it. Through their condo fees," said resident Dwayne Lewis

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Norman Fetterley