On December 8, foreign media reported that Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate were investigating the recent plan of the U.S. Department of Energy to guarantee billions of dollars for a solar energy company, which was accused of fraudulent sales to vulnerable groups such as the elderly.
A letter was sent to Jigar Shah, Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Loan Programs 's Letter noted that the Houston-based Sunnova Energy has received numerous consumer complaints, including actions such as forcing elderly homeowners in poor health to sign long-term contracts worth tens of thousands of dollars. Jigar Shah, Director, Loan Office,
Ministry of Energy
In addition to its deceptive sales tactics, Sunnova Energy has been cited for its extremely poor after-sales service.
"To date, despite numerous phone calls, we still have not received service for this component after nearly five months," said a complaint filed with the Better Business Bureau in October. "Our panels have not been working, so we have not received any benefits because we have not received any credits from our power company. Because they don't work. We have tried over 100 times to call and work with the company to get them fixed up.
"Our solar (Sunova) has not been working properly for more than four months," the complaint said. It said it had contacted Sunova several times, but little action had been taken. The complainant has paid more than a thousand dollars to the National Grid for electricity
because the system is not working. Earlier
this year, Sunnova Energy received an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau for "deceptive sales practices," poor after-sales service, and failure of repair technicians to arrive on time. Even earlier,
in 2019, the Puerto Rico Department of Energy pointed out in a report that Sunnova was misleading consumers in terms of cost, contract duration and service .
Last month, it was reported that Sunnova allegedly cheated vulnerable consumers, including the elderly and the sick. The report cites multiple examples of Sunnova salesmen who came to the door persuading such individuals to sign 25-year solar panel leases.
" This is really fleecing the elderly ." "This is the biggest scam I've ever seen," local Texas residents told the media.
In response to the allegations, a Sunnova spokesman said the company "cannot and will not refuse to sign an agreement based on the age of the customer." According to the
data, Sunnova was founded in 2012 and listed in 2019. The company primarily offers residential customers the service of installing rooftop solar panels in exchange for low-cost leases.
In recent years, however, the company has lost hundreds of millions of dollars and its stock price has plummeted.
In 2021, the company lost $147.5 million; in 2022, it lost $130 million; and its stock price has fallen more than 77% since January 2021.
In September, the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Program Office announced that it had completed a $ 3 billion partial loan guarantee for the Sunnova Hestia project. The project will provide solar energy and battery storage for low-income individuals.
As part of Biden's comprehensive green energy agenda, the agreement marks the largest commitment to solar made by the federal government. The
announcement said the project will provide clean energy system loans to about 75,000 to 115,000 homeowners in the United States and Puerto Rico.
As of December 8, local time, the U.S. Department of Energy and Sunnova have not yet responded.
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