San Diego will soon have 76 fewer jobs as Renovate America, a property-assessed clean energy (PACE) provider, restructures. The company will also lay off 24 other employees from locations around the country.
Renovate America spokespman Greg Frost says that this is to ensure the company is running as efficiently as possible.
“Nothing about Renovate America’s financial situation has changed,” Frost said. “The company is financially sound: We have [more than] half a billion dollars in credit facilities from several of the world’s leading financial institutions. We continue to pay contractors promptly upon completion of jobs – as we always have.”
PACE allows homeowners to make solar PV and energy efficiency upgrades to their homes but pay them off through special assessments that are added to their property taxes. In other words, the renovations are attached to the home, not the homeowner. It has been particularly successful in helping residential and commercial/industrial customers install solar, but PACE programs are not currently available in all 50 states.
The move follows a substantial corporate shakeup a month ago, when the founding CEO and three other C-suite officers left the company to new leadership. At the time, then new CEO Roy Guthrie promised to “ask the tough questions” and make changes as necessary. The layoffs may reflect the first of those decisions.
“Our number one priority is delivering the most trusted and best PACE financing for our customers, partners and investors,” Guthrie said in the blog post announcing the layoffs. “Executed properly, this will enable us to continue to refine our multi-product and consumer-oriented platforms, positioning us for home improvement market share growth and expansion in the years to come.”
Renovate America currently operates in California, Missouri and Florida, but it has made aggressive moves the last two summers to expand its program, including partnering with residential solar giant Vivint in July 2016. Renovate America also received an influx of $200 million from Barclays with the stated purpose of expanding the program this past July.
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