- Courtesy Of Patrick Mccormack
The private equity firm bought iSun for $10 million after it filed for bankruptcy in June and laid off scores of employees. A bankruptcy judge in Delaware authorized the sale on August 23. iSun was one of Vermont’s few publicly traded companies.
Related Vermont’s Solar-Industry Giant iSun Faces Bankruptcy and a Fire Sale
iSun, a Williston-based commercial solar installer, and SunCommon, its residential subsidiary, will operate under a new corporate parent called Original Clean Energy.
Vermont solar industry pioneer Jeff Wolfe will be CEO of Original Clean Energy, the company announced. Formerly of Strafford, Wolfe founded the solar installer groSolar in 1998. groSolar was later acquired by EDF Renewables, a French multinational.
- Original Clean Energy
- Original Clean Energy CEO Jeff Wolfe
Wolfe, who today lives in New Jersey, said in an interview that iSun’s previous strategy of aggressive regional growth will be set aside in pursuit of profitability and “organic growth” within northern New England and New York State.
“That’s the short-term plan,” Wolfe said.
In recent months, as iSun ran out of cash, the combined companies shed 150 or so employees from their peak of 350. The smaller size, combined with the efficiency of operating as a privately held company, will allow Original Clean Energy to operate on stable financial footing, Wolfe said.
Related Pack of Wolfes: The founders of groSolar take an all-in-the-family approach
Related Whistleblower Alleges iSun Leaders Misled Shareholders Ahead of Bankruptcy
The sale to a private equity firm with expertise in oil and gas represents an awkward landing for SunCommon, which advertises itself as a “solar company with a purpose beyond profit.”
Related With Purchase of SunCommon, iSun Eyes Wider Horizons in the Solar Industry
Wolfe is also CEO of a related Siltstone entity called Clean Royalties. According to its website, Clean Royalties pays landowners a lump sum in exchange for royalties from renewable energy produced on their property in the future. The website says Clean Royalties has “hundreds of deals under our belt,” but Wolfe clarified that those deals involved fossil fuel royalties. The renewable sector of that business, he said, is “aspirational.”
Wolfe said he’s excited to work again in Vermont and believes Original Clean Energy is set up to succeed. He said the company must work to repair its reputation, which was tarnished by fumbled contracts, unpaid bills and allegations of financial misdeeds.
“But, you know, we’ve had a lot of outreach to customers over the last few weeks, a lot of outreach to vendors,” Wolfe said. “Overwhelmingly, the response has been, ‘We want you guys back.’”
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