Republican leaders are probing the Department of Energy (DOE) over its recent $3 billion award to a solar energy company. But only because the company is famous for scamming vulnerable customers.
DOE Loan Programs Office Director Jigar Shah received a letter to this effect. In it, House Energy and Commerce Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Senate Energy and Natural Resources Ranking Member John Barrasso expressed concern about rewarding the Houston-based Sunnova Energy Corporation.
They cited reports highlighting how Sunnova has scammed and misled consumers. They wrote: “We are alarmed about recent, credible reports that Sunnova has racked up numerous consumer complaints. Including those alleging troubling sales practices, such as Sunnova pressing elderly homeowners in poor health to sign long-term contracts costing tens of thousands of dollars.”
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“These reports cite interviews with individuals who struggled to deal with large contracts that their elderly parents signed shortly before passing away as well as state consumer complaints alleging maintenance delays and predatory sales strategies,” the letter continues.
In late September, the DOE Loan Programs Office revealed the closing of a $3 billion partial loan guarantee to Sunnova’s Project Hestia. This was to provide solar and battery storage to low-income individuals as part of President Biden’s sweeping green energy agenda.
It was the federal government’s most significant commitment ever to solar power. According to the announcement, the project will provide loans for clean energy systems. This will be available for about 75,000 to 115,000 U.S. and Puerto Rico homeowners.
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However, the reports mentioned in the letter by McMorris Rodgers and Barrasso focus on specific incidents. The Republican leaders, in their letter, claim that the accounts have a pattern to them.
Earlier this year, the Better Business Bureau assigned Sunnova an “F rating” over its pattern of “deceptive sales practices.” It is also guilty of poor customer service and repair technicians not arriving on schedule.
Consumers claim Sunnova only resolved their issues after filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Aside from the poor service, Sunnova also scams vulnerable consumers, including the elderly and sick.
The report highlighted multiple examples of door-to-door Sunnova salespersons persuading these individuals to sign 25-year solar panel leases. A Sunnova spokesperson told the Washington Free Beacon, “All customers, regardless of age, are required to complete a thorough validation process where we confirm their identity and ensure that they have read and comprehended the terms of their agreements.”
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According to the spokesperson, Sunnova is “fully dedicated to assisting all our customers in resolving any issues that may arise during the life of their agreement or due to external factors.”
Sunnova was born in 2012 and ultimately went public seven years later in 2019. The company offers to install rooftop solar panels, mainly for residential customers, in exchange for a low-cost lease.
Unfortunately, the company has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years. And its stock price has been on a downtrend. In 2021, it lost $147.5 million. In 2022, it lost $130 million; since January 2021, its stock price has fallen more than 77%.
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