Prominent rooftop solar installer SunPower files bankruptcy

By Derick Lila, PV Buzz 

SunPower, once a leading name in rooftop solar installation, has filed for bankruptcy amid high interest rates and allegations of financial misconduct.

The company’s stock has plummeted nearly 90% this year, leading to a major restructuring effort.

Can SunPower’s struggles offer insights into the broader challenges faced by the solar industry today?

In its bankruptcy filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, SunPower reported assets and liabilities ranging between $1 billion and $10 billion. TotalEnergies, a major stakeholder, holds a significant portion of the company.

The bankruptcy filing comes as the company plans to sell its Blue Raven Solar and new homes businesses, along with its non-installing dealer network, to Complete Solaria for $45 million, pending court approval. SunPower is aiming for court approval by mid-September and intends to sell its remaining assets through the bankruptcy process.

The residential solar sector has faced challenges due to high interest rates, which have dampened demand and left companies with excess inventory.

However, SunPower’s troubles are further compounded by allegations of misconduct.

Read the full story here

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Enviro group threatens suit to rescue ‘Dinosaurs of the Delaware’

The Atlantic sturgeon is federally protected as an endangered species but isn’t on New Jersey’s endangered species list. Photo by Andrew S. Lewis, Delaware Riverkeeper Network


By Dana DiFilippo newjerseymonitor.com

The torpedo-shaped Atlantic sturgeon is such an old fish it’s sometimes called a living fossil.

But the endangered Jurassic-era fish is disappearing fast, and New Jersey is poised to play a pivotal role in its extinction, according to environmentalist Maya van Rossum.

“This is an ancient species that has been around since the time of the dinosaurs. It has survived every cataclysmic event on Earth, but now it may be driven to extinction because of the actions of people,” van Rossum said. “We are morally responsible to take actions to correct the behaviors that are resulting in the driving of this species to extinction.”

The Delaware River’s population of Atlantic sturgeon is the most imperiled in the world, with less than 250 spawning adults left — down from more than 200,000 in the late 1800s, van Rossum said.

They’re dying in droves for multiple reasons, including vessel strikes, waters warmed by climate change, and development and dredging projects that ruin their habitat, van Rossum said.

But in her letters alerting federal and state officials of her intent to sue, she focuses on two other problems where she accused officials of failing to act — water pollution and commercial fisheries’ bycatch.

Read the full story here

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Minnesota settles lawsuit over deceptive ‘Recycling’ bags

Walmart and Reynolds Consumer Products have agreed to stop selling certain plastic bags in Minnesota for two and a half years, after the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, argued in court that the companies had falsely marketed them as recyclable.

Read the full story here

If you like this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for a full month.

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Support for new shore building pivots on photos: idyllic vs. realistic

By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Blog Editor

Sunbathing and refreshing dips in the Atlantic Ocean–plus a flock of recreational diversions–keep vacationers and investors flocking to the Jersey shore year after year. But as sure as a great vacation often awaits, so, too, do hurricanes and coastal storms that wreck havoc on homes and businesses and mandate expensive beach restorations.

For an idyllic week or two ‘at the shore,’ it’s a risk that vacationers take, year after year,

Now, the state wants to impose restrictions designed to curb seasonal damage by limiting where new construction can be located and how high it must be above predicted flood levels.

Business lobbyist Ray Cantor warns that the rules constitute a ‘retreat from the shore’ that will kill New Jersey’s golden tourism goose. Others say it’s just common sense, especially in the face of the undeniable threat posed by climate change.

The battle for public support pivots on our memories, weather, and photos. The developers’ warnings are more convincing when the sun shines.

When storms swallow up beach properties and destroy infrastructure their lament is less convincing.

The first in three public hearings scheduled on the rules–and the only one planned to be held in person– is set for 6 p.m. Sept. 5 at Ocean County College in Toms River. There are two are virtual hearings planned at 2 p.m. Sept. 12 and 10 a.m. Sept. 19.

Related shore regulation stories:
Proposed DEP rules spark debate at legislative hearing (NJ Spotlight)
Protecting against floods or government-mandated retreat (Associated Press)
New rules that would increase building elevations at the shore (Breaking AC)
Public hearing dates announced on proposed flood rules (AC Press)

If you liked this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for an entire month. No obligation.

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After two years of negotiations, Hartz suddenly drops plan for massive warehouses complex on former Hercules munitions site

By Mike Hayes, Gothamist

A New Jersey developer is mysteriously walking away from a proposal to build more than 2 million square feet of warehouses in Roxbury, New Jersey after more than two years of negotiations with the township.

Thomas Germinario, an attorney for the township’s planning board, confirmed to Gothamist that the company, Hartz Mountain, withdrew its application to build the warehouses at the former home of Hercules LLC, a powder explosives company that has not operated at the site since the 1990s.

If you like this post, you’ll love our daily environmental newsletter, EnviroPolitics. It’s packed daily with the latest news, commentary, and legislative updates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware…and beyond. Please do not take our word for it, try it free for a full month.

Germinario said that the real estate development firm did not give a reason for withdrawing from the project, which was expected to generate 1,200 construction jobs and an additional 1,200 jobs once the warehouses were completed.

The abandoned plan is the latest in the ongoing saga to bring jobs and tax revenue to the suburban township, where the 990-acre property — the largest current parcel of available developable land in Morris County — has been empty for more than two decades. But local officials have questioned whether the township’s infrastructure could handle the tractor-trailer traffic associated with a massive set of five warehouses. Meanwhile, concerns loom about the environmental effects of building on the site, which has a history of chemical contamination.

Related: Why the Roxbury Township warehouse bid blew up Daily Record

The Roxbury project’s setback reflects the conflict that New Jersey, like other states with vibrant port economies, faces around rapid warehouse growth. On one hand, the development of more warehouses in New Jersey reflects a boom in the economy to meet the needs spurred by the expansion of online sales. However, some — including Gov. Phil Murphy — say the state must consider curtailing warehouse development to help save the environment.

Read the full story here

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