SunEdison’s woes reflect trend in solar energy business

Hawaiian Electric Company’s recent cancellation of its SunEdison power purchase agreements (PPA) is being used by detractors to clobber the utility with the usual charges of HECO being anti-solar/anti-independent power producer.

Yet it appears that many of those firing off accusations of bad faith have spent little time carefully examining SunEdison’s deteriorating financial and legal situation. With SunEdison’s efforts to promote pictures of an uncompleted project and offering prospects of a new buyer, and with HECO’s already battered public image, it’s so much easier to bash the utility to garner populist ire.

However, if one looks at the bigger picture, the localized storm over HECO’s decision is symptomatic of a larger monsoon blowing across the solar electric landscape where other national solar companies are also reporting poor financial performances despite record revenues and installed megawatts.

Missouri- based SunEdison was recently described by BloombergBusiness as the “worst performing renewable energy company” and has racked up more than $11.7 billion in debt as it burns through its cash reserves at an unsustain- able rate.

This is a company that has lost 90 percent of its stock value in the past seven months. How much risk must HECO subject ratepayers to and how much sense does it make to continue to do business with a company with such a tangled web of creditors and investors?

For those pointing to the purported sale of these three solar projects to a third party — DE Shaw et al. — as being the salvation to save the day, it’s important to note that this group is already a creditor.

As the state’s Consumer Advocate pointed out on the matter, “the bankruptcy code provides the ability of a bankruptcy trustee to ‘look back’ at previous transactions that occurred prior to the bankruptcy filing to determine if an actual or constructive fraudulent transfer of assets took place if the debtor was given less than full value for the consideration it provided to specific creditors.”

The DE Shaw group has $336 million of SunEdison’s debt and is offering to cancel that in exchange for some development projects and shares in SunEdison’s Yieldco, TerraForm. Hardly an arm’s length transaction.

Moreover, when taking a closer look at other solar finance and development companies doing business in Hawaii, it’s not only SunEdison that should give cause for concern.

Industry leaders SolarCity and Sunrun have been very active here primarily using similar financing tools. However, curiously, as sales increase and the more rooftop solar is installed, the more money they lose. To date, neither company has ever recorded an annual profit, with SolarCity reporting a net loss of $768 million for 2015 while Sunrun accumulated a net loss of $72 million through the first nine months of last year.

Since SunEdison pioneered the third-party financing concept 10 years ago, allowing the renewable energy field to transform the power business, many who may not have otherwise been able to go solar electric were able to do so using third-party financing with a PPA or lease.

That said, it’s certainly reasonable to question any business model that cumulatively loses billions and is highly dependent on generous subsidies, such as state and federal tax credits and net energy metering programs, with apparently little to no near-term prospect of achieving profitability.

Given the financial performance of these companies, homeowners who enter into these types of agreements would be advised to read thoroughly the long-term contract they are entering into and to make an informed decision.

In the case of Hawaiian Electric and SunEdison, given the substantial uncertainties and risks swirling around this solar provider, HECO made the correct call.