The Sunrun acquisition of Vivint last year did not seem like it was going to be a big change to me. As a Vivint customer, I wasn’t worried. After all, they have to honor my existing contract.
A few weeks ago a Sunrun sales rep reached out to me to look into a large gap I was seeing between the Solar production and my usage. The gap resulted in some surprisingly large ComEd invoices.
As with anything, you have to be careful with the language on the contacts! One thing I missed on my original Vivint contract was that the system would only produce 85% of my electrical needs. This means that despite what the Vivint sales reps told me, my ComEd invoice would actually be higher than their minimum metering fees! My bad, but it is actually not a financial disaster.
Anyway, back to Sunrun, which now holds my contact for solar energy. The sales rep was more than a little sneaky. Let me explain what happened.
The Sunrun agreements, as opposed to the promotional pricing I got from Vivint, have a steep escalator that causes the price to rise gradually. No big deal, right? Wrong, because this is all still fresh in my mind I know that I am not going to see any savings in the next couple of years. The savings will occur if the prices for residential electricity rise!
My reasoning with my agreement with Vivint was that it was partly an “insurance policy”. In other words, if energy prices escalate in the next 20 years, it will not impact me significantly.
Now, Sunrun comes along and suggests I sign a new contract for more solar panels to more adequately meet my electrical needs. Makes sense right? No, actually it does not. Because I read my contracts before signing them! The escalator makes a tremendous difference to the price in the later years of the contract! In years 14 through 20 of the contract my electrical expenses would have been double, due to the escalator in the contract.
I’m not telling anyone to shy away from solar. Quite the opposite in fact. I was able to negotiate for the escalator to be removed from the agreement. This makes me think that maybe there is flexibility for others to do the same.
The takeaway here is to read your contacts carefully. Not just for solar, but all your contacts. For long-term agreements this is especially important. And when you don’t like the contract negotiate for a better one. And if you are not satisfied, walk away.
Hoy Manor 