New Leaf Energy has laid off about a fifth of its workforce – 41 out of 217 employees – in explicit response to a recent Congressional budgetary decision to accelerate the phaseout of a federal investment tax credit (ITC) for solar and wind energy.
Previously available through 2032, the 30% federal ITC now requires projects to begin construction by July 4, 2026, and generally be placed in service by Dec. 31, 2028. Projects starting construction after July 4, 2026, must be placed in service by the end of 2027.
The layoffs are among the first in a tide of solar job dislocations that are expected in the wake of the budget bill’s final passage early this month. In particular, residential solar businesses are widely understood to be scaling back hiring and bracing for layoffs.
Few formal announcements of employment curtailments have yet come to light, however, as some companies choose to quietly usher workers out the door.
Word that Pine Gate Renewables, a North Carolina developer and owner-operator of U.S. utility-scale solar and energy storage projects, has laid off 15% have echoed this week over social-media platforms. But responding to a query from pv magazine USA, the company said, “Pine Gate Renewables is committed to the privacy of its current and former team members and does not publicly comment on employee-related matters.”
If there’s any truth to the social-media posts, the company has parted company with more than 50 of its more than 350 reported employees.
In a post on New Leaf’s LinkedIn page, the company reported that it stands on well-capitalized and otherwise solid financial footing and maintains a strong and diverse pipeline of U.S. solar, wind and battery-storage projects. The post also contended that the company has taken measures to buttress its pipeline against “the sudden swing in tax treatment” and make sure to continue to market and sell projects on schedule.
“However,” the statement says, “NLE recognized the need to move quickly to reduce its cost structure in preparation for a market without the Federal ITC. The pathway to developing clean energy projects has narrowed, but it has not vanished; reducing the size of the company is intended to provide stability and free cash while the company adapts to a changed market for the long term.”
New Leaf was founded three years ago this month, when Energy Capital Partners, a New Jersey private equity and credit investment firm focused on energy-transition and sustainable-infrastructure assets, acquired and spun off the development branch of Borrego Solar.
New Leaf’s core segments are solar development, particular community and utility-scale solar; energy storage; wind generation; and electric vehicle charging. New Leaf’s development of its 100 MW Honey Ridge Solar solar facility in New York’s Jefferson County, bordering Canada along the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, may be its biggest now. Commercial operations are targeted to begin in March 2029.
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.