Move over Solyndra, here comes Sunnova.
Congressional Republicans and their allies believe they’ve hit on the next renewable energy scandal on par with the failed solar company Solyndra, which dominated headlines more than a decade ago.
This time, they’re focusing their attention on Sunnova Energy, which recently won a $3 billion federal loan guarantee for a massive “virtual power plant” project. Republicans are raising the alarm over the company’s track record, accusing it of “troubling sales practices” while alleging potential favorable treatment from the Department of Energy.
The GOP probe of Sunnova follows months of pressure from the party and its allies. It includes charges that Sunnova unfairly benefited from close ties to Jigar Shah, the director of DOE’s Loan Programs Office, and that it had a long history of scamming its rooftop solar customers. Biden administration officials say they stand behind the award.
“Solyndra is going to look like chump change compared to the amount of money that’s been wasted by this administration,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the top Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told reporters this week. He’s previously said that “this could be the next Solyndra.”
Whether that proves true remains to be seen. In 2009, Solyndra got a $535 million loan guarantee from DOE but went insolvent two years later. The scandal became shorthand for waste and mismanagement in former President Barack Obama’s green agenda.
Now, in the Biden era, Republicans are scrutinizing nearly every major energy-related grant, loan and loan guarantee, looking for potential scandals including financial abnormalities, political ties and questionable behavior. They’ve had some success.
Following an outcry from Republicans, DOE earlier this year scrapped a grant to battery company Microvast Holdings.
On Friday, amid the release of a Republican letter led by Barrasso and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) alleging predatory sales practices at Sunnova, the company’s stock plunged more than 15 percent. It has since recovered some of those losses.
The company has been the subject of a steady stream of conservative media reports and congressional scrutiny. One headline from Fox News read, “Biden hands shady solar company $3B.”
The Washington Free Beacon blared: “Congress probes Biden Admin’s $3 billion loan to solar company accused of scamming elderly.” In 2019, a USA Today investigation uncovered complaints from hundreds of consumers in Puerto Rico over the company’s practices.
Some analysts see the Republican effort as a politicized one over “ostensibly non-controversial initiatives,” though others say there remain risks to the company and clean energy funding writ large.
Home solar and battery plan
Sunnova, a rooftop solar company founded in 2012 in Houston, was picked in April for a $3 billion loan guarantee for what it calls Project Hestia, a bid to link up to 115,000 homes’ rooftop solar and battery storage to improve grid resilience.
Barrasso started scrutinizing the company shortly after DOE finalized its offer to Sunnova in September. He brought it up at an October hearing with Shah, pointing to the director’s appearances with the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable, a trade association he founded before his federal government job, which has a board member in common with Sunnova. He said in a letter to Shah that the setup “gives rise to perceptions of a pay-to-play scheme.” He’s expected to fire off another letter Thursday.
At the same time, conservative media ramped up its critical coverage of Sunnova, with stories on the Cleantech Leaders Roundtable, scamming allegations and more.
Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” this week featured the story of Terry Blythe, who accused Sunnova of scamming her 86-year-old father in Texas…
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