Solar installers chase millions after aggregator registration is suspended – pv Australia magazine

October 2, 2024 David Carroll

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator (CER) said it has permanently suspended the registration of Emerging Energy Solutions Group Pty Ltd, meaning it can no longer create renewable energy certificates (RECs), including small-scale technology certificates (STCs). ).

“On September 20, 2024, we suspended Emerging Energy’s registration because we determined it was no longer a fit and proper person,” the regulator said.

The decision comes following the appointment of Worrells as Emerging Energy’s liquidator on July 24, 2024. As of August 1, 2024, Emerging Energy’s REC account has been under the control of the liquidators.

The regulator said Worrells had provided advice to creditors which showed Emerging Energy had ceased trading in around July 2023.

The opinion states: “Our preliminary investigation has determined that the business and assets of the company may have been transferred to an affiliate,” with Worrells noting that it is conducting an investigation to determine whether the transfer of the business and assets may have constituted illegal Phoenix activity.

Emerging Energy’s fate is another blow to solar installers who used it and related marketplace Greenbot, who want to file an STC to seek reimbursement from the federal government.

CER said Greenbot is still operating after a failed attempt by the regulator to cease operations. The regulatory authority permanently suspended Greenbot’s registration on June 11, 2024 after receiving information about payment problems. On 3 July 2024, the Federal Court temporarily suspended the regulator’s decision, meaning Greenbot can act as an agent under the Small Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) while the case is heard by the Court. The next judicial review of the decision to suspend Greenbot will take place on October 11, 2024, in the Federal Court in Victoria.

Solar companies involved in the incident claim that aggregators sold millions of rebate certificates without passing on payments as they should have.

The New South Wales Small Business Commissioner has noted that in some cases solar installers have completed a lot of installation work but have not been paid for their work, impacting their cash flow and leaving uncertainty as to whether they will be paid.

Solar installation company The Energy Experts, a small business based in Kiama on the New South Wales South Coast, is one of the companies counting costs.

Energy Experts founder and sales manager Carolyn Lee said the company was one of more than 240 small businesses caught up in the incident.

Lee said Greenbot owes The Energy Experts $40,000, but noted that some companies owe as much as $800,000, which has a serious impact on their ongoing profitability.

“Some companies were defrauded of hundreds of thousands of dollars and had to lay off employees,” she said.

Lee called for government intervention to help recover the money owed, saying failure to do so would leave the door open for other aggregators to exploit the program and influence hundreds more solar installers.

“The government must step in,” she said. “So far, Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen and the Clean Energy Regulator have remained silent. Solar companies like ours feel like they’ve been left hanging. Why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?”

CER said it understands the stress that non-payment causes to small businesses, but noted that the use of agents and all related contractual issues, including pricing and STC payments, are beyond its legislative remit.

“We are nonetheless assisting those in debt by directing them to the appropriate agencies and providing as much information as possible on the status of small scale technology certificates (STCs) for which payment is due,” it said.

“We have shared information with state and territory consumer authorities and the ACCC, who are the payment regulators, and are actively assisting with their inquiries.”

Tristan Edis, director of analysis and consulting at consultancy Green Energy Markets, said it is important for solar installers to register their STCs with an agent that has a long and established reputation for paying and taking care of installers reliably.

“This has been a train wreck that those with experience in the industry have seen from afar, as this is not the first time an aggregator has gone under and left many installers out in the cold,” he said.

“Unfortunately, I suspect there is little the government can do – it is now the same as any other commercial liquidation, with creditors left with a hollowed-out skeleton to take over.”