HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced a lawsuit on Friday against SunRun Inc., SunRun Installation Services, Bright Planet Solar, Inc., Elevate Solar Solutions LLC and salespeople Dakota Grumet and Sierra Howes.
In a release, Tong accuses the companies and individuals named in the lawsuit of deceptive, unfair and otherwise unlawful sales of solar panel systems. He said they locked consumers into long-term contracts without consent by various means that included impersonating consumers and installing non-functional systems.
According to the release, SunRun claims it is the largest residential solar panel installation company in the United States. It provides solar panel installations, multi-year leases, loans and financing agreements.
SunRun contracts with local marketing and installation companies such as Bright Planet and Elevate Solar, the release said, to provide door-to-door marketing, sales and installation services for its solar systems and products.
Grumet is a principal, managing member of Elevate Solar and is also employed by Bright Planet, according to the release, which said Howes is also affiliated with Elevate Solar and employed by Bright Planet.
Tong’s complaint accuses the parties named of repeatedly violating the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act and Home Improvement Act. Tong is seeking “restitution for consumers, disgorgement of profits gained through the company’s unfair and deceptive acts, civil penalties and injunctive relief” that will prevent further “illegal conduct,” the release said.
Tong is directly quoted in the release as accusing SunRun, Bright Planet and Elevate of locking Connecticut homeowners into long-term solar panel contracts without their full and informed consent. He said the companies also failed to deliver working systems in a timely manner.
“The complaints we have seen – including forged signatures, impersonations of consumers, non-permitted work and non-functioning systems – are beyond shocking,” Tong said in the release. “These companies had an opportunity to make it right, to end these fraudulent leases and remove these unwanted solar panels. We will aggressively pursue these companies in court to make these homeowners whole and to stop these abusive practices.”
The release said that the lawsuit is relative to complaints referred by the state’s Department of Consumer Protection. DCP Commissioner Bryan T. Cafferelli is also quoted in the release.
“As more people consider solar power, it is critical that the companies that sell, finance and install solar panels are acting ethically and fairly to consumers,” Cafferelli said in the release. “We have received many complaints related to SunRun and other solar company actions. Thank you to the team at DCP that continues to work on this issue, and to the Attorney General’s office for taking on this case.”
The suit lists three consumer complaints from homeowners in Windsor, Stafford Springs and Wethersfield. Click here to view a summarization of the complaints.
FOX61 reached out to SunRun but did not hear back by the time of publication. Any response from the company will be added immediately upon being received.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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