Sunnova, an American solar energy company based in Houston, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, after dismissing nearly half of its employees.
The Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing allows Sunnova to remain in business while reorganizing its finances, according to the Houston Chronicle. The Biden administration’s Department of Energy (DOE) had financed a partial loan guarantee of $3 billion to Sunnova in 2023, under the DOE Loan Programs Office (LPO), but Sunnova announced on May 28 that the DOE, under the Trump administration, had canceled the loan guarantee.
The Biden DOE’s loan to Sunnova was the largest such federal government award to a solar energy company in American history, the Washington Free Beacon noted that same year.
The company warned in March that it would not be able to continue operations. Sunnova’s 2024 financial results report said it “could offer no assurances [they would] be able to successfully implement any of these [financial] plans or obtain financing at acceptable terms or at all.” Sunnova hired a financial advisor to help “manage certain aspects of [the] debt management and refinancing efforts,” according to the same report.
The company’s stock in March dropped a staggering 64%. While its current assets and liabilities stand between $10 billion and $50 billion, as of Dec. 31, Sunnova had a total debt of $10.67 billion, according to CNBC.
Sunnova published an 8-K filing on June 5, announcing the Board Director’s approval of a reduction in force totaling 718 employees. The reduction became effective May 30, prior to publication of the filing. The layoffs affected over half of Sunnova’s workforce and included the interim chief financial officer, Robyn Liska, who was appointed only two months prior, according to PV Tech.
The bankruptcy results from a diminished prospect for U.S. sales as the solar industry at large suffers from tariffs on imported supplies, lessened state incentives, and high interest rates, the Straits Times reported.
However, critics have long demanded that the LPO stop giving out vast loans, especially to businesses that would not survive.
This loan grant cancellation from the DOE follows other Trump administration cuts to Biden era green energy grants, including $6 million in cuts to DOE grants to the Rocky Mountain Institute, RMI. RMI is a climate think tank with alleged links to the Chinese government.
The Trump administration has even impacted the language energy companies use. Energy companies have cut terms like “global warming” from their business vocabulary, using such terms 75% less than they were during Biden’s Administration, the DCNF previously reported.
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