iSun to Continue Operations With New Leaders, Brand 

The financially troubled solar companies iSun and SunCommon will continue New England operations under new leadership and a new brand following their purchase by Houston-based investment firm Siltstone Capital.

The private equity firm bought iSun for $10 million after it filed for bankruptcy in June and laid off scores of employees. A bankruptcy judge in Delaware authorized the sale on August 23. iSun was one of Vermont’s few publicly traded companies.
Siltstone invests primarily in oil and gas, and its purchase of iSun represents the firm’s first foray into renewable energy.

iSun, a Williston-based commercial solar installer, and SunCommon, its residential subsidiary, will operate under a new corporate parent called Original Clean Energy.

Vermont solar industry pioneer Jeff Wolfe will be CEO of Original Clean Energy, the company announced. Formerly of Strafford, Wolfe founded the solar installer groSolar in 1998. groSolar was later acquired by EDF Renewables, a French multinational.

Wolfe, who today lives in New Jersey, said in an interview that iSun’s previous strategy of aggressive regional growth will be set aside in pursuit of profitability and “organic growth” within northern New England and New York State.

“That’s the short-term plan,” Wolfe said.

In recent months, as iSun ran out of cash, the combined companies shed 150 or so employees from their peak of 350. The smaller size, combined with the efficiency of operating as a privately held company, will allow Original Clean Energy to operate on stable financial footing, Wolfe said.
The commercial division will be rebranded from iSun to Legacy Power, a move Wolfe acknowledged as an attempt, in part, to put its damaged reputation behind it. iSun’s former CEO, Jeff Peck, will remain employed as a senior adviser, while iSun senior vice president Kip Myrick will step in as CEO of Legacy Power.
SunCommon cofounder James Moore will remain CEO of the Waterbury-based residential division.

The sale to a private equity firm with expertise in oil and gas represents an awkward landing for SunCommon, which advertises itself as a “solar company with a purpose beyond profit.”
“We can all do more work if we’re profitable,” Wolfe said. “Within a capitalist society, that’s the way it works.”

Wolfe is also CEO of a related Siltstone entity called Clean Royalties. According to its website, Clean Royalties pays landowners a lump sum in exchange for royalties from renewable energy produced on their property in the future. The website says Clean Royalties has “hundreds of deals under our belt,” but Wolfe clarified that those deals involved fossil fuel royalties. The renewable sector of that business, he said, is “aspirational.”

Wolfe said he’s excited to work again in Vermont and believes Original Clean Energy is set up to succeed. He said the company must work to repair its reputation, which was tarnished by fumbled contracts, unpaid bills and allegations of financial misdeeds.

“But, you know, we’ve had a lot of outreach to customers over the last few weeks, a lot of outreach to vendors,” Wolfe said. “Overwhelmingly, the response has been, ‘We want you guys back.’”