When SunPower announced its bankruptcy in mid-July, I was faced with an unimaginable crossroads. My billion-dollar partner was dissolving, and they encouraged us to file bankruptcy alongside them. At first, it seemed like the safest choice—maybe even the only choice. But I couldn’t shake the risks that came with it. What if their promises to reorganize didn’t hold up? What if filing bankruptcy meant losing the trust of our over 12,000 customers and our ability to protect hundreds of employees? The stakes were too high. I knew the only viable path forward was to go it alone.
That decision kicked off a journey that tested every ounce of resilience and creativity at hand. The first thing we did was focus on our customers. Thousands of them were left in limbo, and hundreds of pending projects and partial payments were tied up in contracts. We picked up the phone and made call after call, reassuring them that we weren’t going anywhere. At the same time, we analyzed thousands of inquiries, distilling them into 20 core questions, which we used to rebuild our customer service systems from the ground up. By integrating AI, we turned these concerns into actionable solutions, streamlining service and proving to our customers that they were still at the heart of everything we do.
But our challenges didn’t stop there. Running a company without SunPower’s financial backing was like rebuilding a ship in the middle of the ocean in the middle of a storm. For three weeks, we paused operations, keeping only five key team members while furloughing everyone else. Those were tough conversations, but I needed time to strategize. I reached out to vendors, bankers, and partners, letting them know we were regrouping. I also went public with our plans through TV, radio, and social media. Words alone wouldn’t rebuild trust, so I let our actions do the talking. By the end of the month of August, we’d scaled back up to 50 employees and resumed operations. Within 100 days, we were at 100 team members, running more efficiently than ever, and offering new products like batteries and solar technology that SunPower had restricted us from selling before.
In fact, our ability to adapt quickly had an unintended benefit. When SunPower’s collapse caused dozens of companies to shutter in our region, we stepped in to service their customers, repairing systems others had abandoned. We even replaced SunPower’s software with more flexible tools, increasing efficiency so dramatically that, today, we’ve reached profitability levels comparable to when we had a staff of 350—all with a smaller, more agile team.
Finally, this journey wasn’t just about the bottom line—it was about the people. By Q4 of 2023, we contributed $125 million in annual economic influence to the communities we serve. A top priority was bringing back those we furloughed, retraining them on 2025 technology, and turning them into ambassadors for the future of energy. I also leaned into my relationship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) to bring skilled electricians into solar, building a well-trained, well-paid workforce that’s helping to standardize how we build microgrids for homes and businesses from 2025 on.
But this isn’t just about one company’s ability to successfully regrow from net zero—it’s about rewriting the rules of energy. As I enter my 19th year in this industry, my ultimate goal is to force a restructuring of the electric utility monopoly, scaling it back to a fraction of its size. By empowering people to generate and store their own energy, we can finally break the monopoly that coal, oil, and gas have held for over 130 years. This isn’t just my vision; it’s a shared goal across the planet. Renova Energy is stepping up to be the replacement for outdated institutions. We’re not just surviving—we’re leading the charge into a sustainable future. That’s why we cannot fail.
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Renova Energy is proof that resilience, innovation, and a commitment to people can overcome even the greatest challenges. Join us in building a cleaner, brighter tomorrow as we cut the cord together.
