AG sues solar companies for deceptive sales tactics

Connecticut’s Attorney General, William Tong, announced a lawsuit against solar panel company SunRun Inc., as well as several subcontracted companies and two of its salespeople, Dakota Grumet and Sierra Howes, for allegedly engaging in deceptive, unfair and unlawful sales practices.

“SunRun, Bright Planet, and Elevate locked Connecticut homeowners into long-term solar panel contracts without their full and informed consent, and failed to timely deliver working systems,” said Tong in a statement released today. “We will aggressively pursue these companies in court to make these homeowners whole and to stop these abusive practices.”

SunRun claims to be the nation’s largest residential solar panel installation company, offering panel installations, multi-year leases, loans, and financing structures. The company subcontracts several local marketing and installation companies, such as Bright Planet and Elevate Solar, both of which are named in the suit, to provide marketing, sales and installation services. Grumet is a managing member of Elevate Solar and an employee of Brig Planet. Howes is employed by Bright Planet and frequently collaborates with Elevate Solar.

The alleged parties have been accused of locking consumers into long-term contracts without their consent, even going so far as to impersonate them on documents. They are also alleged to have installed non-functional solar arrays on customers’ property. Officials in the AG’s Office were first made aware of the complaints after they were submitted to the Department of Consumer Protection.

“The complaints we have seen—including forged signatures, impersonations of consumers, non-permitted work, and non-functioning systems—are beyond shocking,” said Tong.

The suit raised against them alleges several violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act and Home Improvement Act, and seeks financial restitution for customers, civil penalties, and injunctive relief preventing the companies from engaging in further illegal conduct.

The suit marks the third enforcement action taken by Tong in recent years against bad-faith actors in the solar market. In 2022, Tong and the state’s Department of Consumer Protection (CTDCP) investigated Solar Wolf Energy over failures to begin or complete promised work, and the company has since been barred from doing business in Connecticut and has filed for bankruptcy. In 2023, Tong sued Vision Solar following over a dozen consumer complaints alleging high-pressure sales tactics, misrepresentation of financing and tax credit details, and unpermitted work. Vision Solar has also since filed for bankruptcy.

The suit summarizes three complaints from homeowners in Windsor, Stafford Springs and Wethersfield. The Windsor complaint alleges that both Grumet and Howes forged homeowners’ signatures to sign them up for a 25-year solar lease for approximately $307 a month, after both the homeowner and the homeowner’s father who lived with them, previously rejected their offer in August 2023. BrightPlanet proceeded to backdate the falsified agreement to August, and a BrightPlanet employee allegedly impersonated the homeowner’s voice on a confirmation call to finalize the process. SunRun then installed a 36-panel solar system on the home, without the homeowner’s consent, and has refused to remove the panels or terminate the lease despite their repeated requests.

In Stafford Springs, Grumet and Howes are alleged to have signed a customer up for a 25-year solar panel lease for $314 a month, without disclosing the fact that the monthly lease payments would increase by 2.9% annually. The consumer verbally accepted the offer based on false pretenses, and Grumet and Howes then proceeded to forge an electronic signature so that they could forgo showing the consumer a written copy of the full contract they had previously agreed to. SunRun then installed the panels, which have never been activated, without obtaining the required building or construction permits. SunRun continues to bill the consumer and has refused to remove the panels, despite their requests.

The Wethersfield complaint follows a similar pattern to Stafford Springs; a homeowner signed a contract electronically for a 25-year solar panel lease for $106 a month, but never received a physical copy of the contract as is required by state law. Again, SunRun installed the panels without obtaining the necessary permits, never activated them, and proceeded to charge the homeowner and deny their requests for removal.

“As more people consider solar power, it is critical that the companies that sell, finance and install solar panels are acting ethically and fairly to consumers,” said Bryan Cafferelli, CTDCP Commissioner.

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