Congress Reportedly Looking Into Biden Admin Loan

(USNewsBreak.com) – President Joe Biden’s platform largely centers on green energy and making it accessible to people across the country — even those in disadvantaged areas. The administration recently approved a $3 billion loan to Sunnova Energy Corporation, which bills itself as “a leading national residential solar company.” The administration intended the loan to guarantee the company’s “Project Hestia,” which would help finance clean energy systems for 75,000 to 115,000 homeowners. However, multiple reports about the company’s alleged shady practices have brought questions about the loan front and center, and now Congress is seeking answers.

Congress Probes Biden Admin's $3 Billion Loan to Solar Company Accused of Scamming Elderlyhttps://t.co/eoU3iJbOPc

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) December 12, 2023

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), who chairs the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, sent a joint letter to the US Department of Energy Loan Programs Office (LPO) on December 7. The duo expressed concern about Sunnova Energy’s practices because many people have reported incidents of predatory sales and misleading claims.

The correspondence details several cases, including those where sales agents allegedly coerced older adults in poor health — one in hospice care — into signing expensive contracts worth tens of thousands of dollars. One such event involved a door-to-door salesman selling an elderly man a $60,000 package for a mobile home.

Additionally, the duo laid out several other examples, such as Puerto Rico’s Independent Office of Consumer Protection receiving more than 1,000 complaints of Sunnova “misleading consumers and failing to deliver lower energy bills as promised.” Sunnova representatives reportedly misled people living on the island who signed 25-year contracts about the true costs of savings and contracts.

McMorris Rodgers and Barrasso are asking the Department of Energy to send them all documents related to the loan the LPO issued, including those centered on internal discussions such as “texts, emails, and correspondence between” all parties involved. They asked the agency to deliver the requested information no later than December 21.