Sunnova’s Net Zero for Stockholders (last ESG report of a ‘second-hander’ company)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 7, 2025

“Climate action is a cornerstone of our business strategy and our commitment to sustainability.”

“At Sunnova, we have worked diligently to embed responsibility, sustainability and risk management into everything that we do….. The transition to a net-zero economy is one that we are determined to realize. It requires innovation, bold action, thoughtfulness, and alignment with leading climate science, all without sacrificing affordability, resilience, and energy equity.” (2023 Sustainability Report)

Here are the (nauseating) highlights of the Houston-based rooftop solar leader, Sunnova Energy (NOVA). Once sporting a stock price in the 50s per share, it is now a penny stock, a story briefly told here.

Politically correct, economically incorrect, the business plan of Enron-ex CEO John Berger was all about living off of special taxpayer favors. And in the Enron tradition, its 95-page EGS report was all about imaging and political posturing. Here are some highlights from what would be the last such report (for Enron’s creepy final report, see here).

Sunnova 2023 sustainability report reflects our commitment to transparency and accountability for the environmental, social and governance (ESG) aspects of our business. This publication marks Sunnova’s fourth consecutive annual sustainability report released to the public.

BENEFITS AND WELL BEING
At Sunnova, our greatest asset is our people. Sunnova offers a superior benefit package to employees. Pet insurance, Diversity Day paid time off, Volunteer Day paid time off

Medical Benefits
• Prescription Drug Benefits; • Wellness Programs • Health Savings Account • Flexible Spending Accounts • Dental Benefits • Vision Benefits • Life and AD&D Insurance • Voluntary Disability Insurance • Voluntary Worksite Benefits • Employee Assistance Benefits • Pet Insurance • Leaves of Absence • Profit Sharing and 401(k) Plans • Employee Stock Purchase Plan • Short Term Incentive Plans • Long Term Incentive Plans • Diversity Day paid time off • Volunteer Day paid time off • Covid Testing paid time off • Floating Holiday paid time off • Paid Time Off

INTRODUCTION / A LETTER FROM OUR CEO
William J. (John) Berger, Founder, Chairman, President and CEO, Sunnova

We are proud of the company that we’ve become over the last 11 years. We’ve grown exponentially, innovated continuously, and led courageously to better meet the challenges of the global energy transition and the looming specter of a changing climate. As demand for clean, reliable energy grows, we are poised to meet the needs of customers and communities everywhere through innovative and adaptive energy services. With our expanded services in areas like Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) and grid services, our solutions have matured to help meet today’s energy demands.

In 2023, we hit sizeable milestones by surpassing 400,000 customers, 2,000 employees, 1,090 megawatt hours and 2.5 gigawatts under management. At the same time, this year presented challenges, with decades-high interest rates and strong macroeconomic headwinds. We recognize that adaptability is crucial to success during such times, and to that end, we’ve evolved our company’s focus from an “energy as a service” company to an “adaptive energy services” company. This shift reinforces our role in the industry as a company that anticipates changes, adapts and evolves in the face of these opportunities.

Our organization’s updated service capabilities are broken down into three distinct categories— financing, service and management—highlighting our dedication to providing tailored solutions, ongoing system services, and energy management support. With our innovative technology platform, customized offerings, and customer-first approach, we are the trusted provider for customers’ energy goals.

In a world where perceptions are manipulated, we stand firm in our commitment to transparency and integrity, choosing to focus on the facts. We are an adaptive energy services company that has an unwavering focus on innovative technologies, integrated energy solutions, and quality control as evidenced by our investments in our Global Command Center and our Adaptive Technology Center – both designed to optimize our operations and provide our customers with a strong customer experience. Our investments in our customer service infrastructure serve to enhance and strengthen our customer service levels and capabilities, ultimately providing more resilience, reliability, and value for our customers.

At Sunnova, we have worked diligently to embed responsibility, sustainability and risk management into everything that we do to support the needs of our customers, communities, and employees. The transition to a net-zero economy is one that we are determined to realize. It requires innovation, bold action, thoughtfulness, and alignment with leading climate science, all without sacrificing affordability, resilience, and energy equity.

As we look ahead, our focus remains on positively impacting customers and their communities by sustainably powering the home of the future through innovative solutions and unparalleled customer service. We are excited to continue our sustainability journey alongside you as we continue to empower, adapt and evolve.

And from Sunnova’s EVP of Sustainability, Kelsy Hutberg

This year marks our fourth year of formal sustainability reporting and the third year in which we have publicly reported our progress on sustainability goals. In just four short years, we have experienced significant growth that has seen us adapt and evolve the way in which we serve our stakeholders through our ever-evolving energy services. In this report, we transparently communicate our current progress on our strategy and our continuing plans to meet the needs of our valued customers, investors, regulators, communities, and employees.

As we make progress on our sustainability goals, many are still relevant, while some lack the nuanced context of the company we are today. This indicates the need to reassess our materiality aligned with leading practices, including engagement across our many stakeholder groups. We’ve had productive conversations and have welcomed new perspectives to discover what is meaningful, measurable,
and actionable toward our sustainability ambitions. Through our next materiality assessment process, kicking off later this year, we intend to test these findings through engagement and will reframe our strategy with fresh perspectives that align with our adaptable business.

As we work to close out our 2025 goals, we look to 2030 excited to continue building a robust strategy based on the findings from our impending materiality assessment. We look forward to hearing from our key stakeholders as we continue to drive sustainable impact to our business.

ENVIRONMENTAL

Build a customer base by year-end 2023 whose systems will offset 52 million MTCO2e over their useful life.

1. At the end of 2023, we built a customer base of over 400K+ customers, whose systems will offset 54 million MTCO2 e over their useful life.
2. Quantify and disclose a complete Scope 3 inventory for all material categories and set a climate target that includes all scope emissions by year-end 2023.
3. We calculated Scope 3 emissions for all relevant categories for a second consecutive year, but after thorough review with an expert third party and evaluation of several options, we determined that
   Sunnova would not be able to submit an SBTi at this time. Read about our key learnings and next steps here.
   SOCIAL1. Reduce year-over-year voluntary turnover to 15% by 2025.
4. As of 12/31/2023, our voluntary turnover stands at 14.16%.
5. Improve estimated year-end 2021 racial/ethnic minority representation for mid-level leadership (General Manager, Director, VP and SVP titles) by 20% by 2025.
6. As of 12/31/2023, we have achieved diversity success broadly year over year, and we are undertaking a thorough evaluation of our diversity objectives to ensure alignment with current federal regulations, as well as exploring alternative strategies for fostering belonging across our organization.
7. Contribute 2,500 total employee volunteer hours to organizations whose causes align with our mission and ESG goals by year-end 2025.
8. As of 12/31/2023, we have completed over 1,400 hours since the volunteer program began in 2022.
9. Institute a supplier engagement system to quantify ESG impacts for all Tier 1 suppliers by 2023

GREEN FINANCING FRAMEWORK
Now in its third year, Sunnova’s Green Financing Framework outlines eligible use of proceeds, the process for project evaluation and selection, the management of proceeds, and reporting. CICERO Shades of Green has issued a Second Party Opinion on Sunnova’s Green Financing Framework, and its alignment with the Green Bond Principles, as well as Sunnova’s environmental credentials. For information on our Green Financing Framework, please visit our dedicated web page here

Climate action is a cornerstone of our business strategy and our commitment to sustainability. As a leading adaptive energy services company, our primary objective is to drive climate solutions, rapidly scaling to help customers meet their energy needs with unyielding attention to reliability, affordability, and service. As we grow, we are simultaneously working to future-proof our business and improve the environmental performance of our services.

In the last three years we have made significant progress quantifying our corporate emissions aligned with leading standards and assessing climate-related risks and opportunities to ensure we are well positioned far into the future. Our next focus area is aimed at managing sources of emissions, risks, and opportunities through formal goalsetting exercises. We detail our progress in our metrics and targets section below.

Finally, we note that several new regulations have been introduced in the United States and other relevant jurisdictions that create additional requirements for climate disclosures, including the need to pursue assurance of emissions reporting and detailed disclosure of material climate-related risks. We continue to monitor these requirements and mature our reporting to meet these regulations as part of our climate strategy.

All this is in the trash and forgotten…. No, it should be remembered for its lesson for a sustainable future. Trying to be all things to all people based on special government favor is a fool’s errand.