Sunrun, in response to Nevada’s new solar rulings, announced to cease all operations in the state and cut hundreds of jobs. The layoffs and exit are resulted from the new rules adopted by Public Utilities Commission (PUC), NV Energy and state politicians, said the company.
SolarCity has decided to cut 550 jobs in Nevada due to the same reason. Sunrun, on the other hand, expects its local partners will be forced either to perform layoffs or to close their doors entirely. Sunrun is now the third national solar company to announce that the PUC’s anti-solar rules have forced them to cease operations in the state.
“Commissioners Thomsen, Noble, and Burtenshaw’s decision forces Sunrun to displace our Nevada employees, inflicting enormous pain on hard-working Nevada families,” said Bryan Miller, senior vice president of public policy & power markets at Sunrun. “Nevada passed incentives to attract residents to go solar. But after baiting homeowners with incentives, the state switched the rules, penalizing solar homeowners to deliver additional profit to NV Energy. This bait and switch hurts Nevada families, many of whom are retirees on fixed incomes, and who use solar savings to meet their monthly budgets.”
The retroactive decision is also expected broadly to undermine future investment in the state, as retroactive changes impair the business community’s trust in Nevada government.
On January 1, 2016, the PUC adopted rules that are more adverse to solar customers than those publicly proposed by NV Energy. The new rules might hold back homeowners’ willingness to install their own solar.
