The US Home Vitality Committee has despatched a letter to the Division of Vitality’s Mortgage Program Workplace (LPO) asking questions on Sunnova’s gross sales ways and buyer help.
From pv journal USA
The US Home Vitality and Commerce Committee’s Republican members despatched a joint letter to the LPO on Dec. 7. They expressed “outrage” over a reported incident of an aged man allegedly being pressured right into a 25-year photo voltaic lease by a salesman. The joint letter is getting used to spotlight the aggressive or probably deceptive gross sales ways which can be generally employed by contractors of nationwide residential photo voltaic firms.
This incident displays a fancy state of affairs. Republicans in Congress are searching for to undermine the transition to native, clear electrical energy by signaling “outrage,” in the meantime, photo voltaic gross sales firms are grappling with the challenges posed by commission-motivated personal contractors, whose gross sales ways pressure the business’s status.
Residential photo voltaic firms have had lawsuits initiated by state attorneys basic in Arizona, New Mexico, and Connecticut, largely as a result of aggressive gross sales ways. These identical in-home gross sales strategies prompted California to mandate a complete 24-page Photo voltaic Client Safety Information in 2021.
The joint letter, addressed to the LPO’s division head, Jigar Shah, particularly addresses Sunnova’s not too long ago awarded $3 billion mortgage assure. This vital mortgage from the LPO is earmarked to finance as much as 90% of “Undertaking Hestia.” The venture’s goal is to broaden entry to photo voltaic and digital energy plant (VPP) providers, notably for deprived communities that usually battle to safe financing for residential initiatives.
Sunnova stands out within the business for integrating particular person residential photo voltaic and storage installations into the broader energy grid. Regardless of the preliminary rejection of their Califlornia microutility, its modern method is acknowledged as leading edge, and can set precedent for future vitality deployments.
The joint letter particulars allegations of unethical gross sales practices of a Sunnova contractor. It describes an occasion of alleged exploitation: “a door-to-door Sunnova salesman offered her father – who she characterised as in hospice care—a $60,000 photo voltaic system for his cellular house shortly earlier than his dying.” It additionally references complaints from a 2019 article relating to Sunnova’s increasing market in Puerto Rico.
The committee requests all paperwork associated to Sunnova’s mortgage approval, earlier gross sales complaints, shopper safety measures, and the corporate’s monetary standing. Additionally they inquire about LPO’s oversight of Sunnova’s gross sales practices.
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