Spruce Finance Explained

Spruce Finance
Type:Private
Industry:Solar electricity funding
Area Served:United States
Key People:Nat Kreamer (CEO)
Jeff Loebbaka
Steve Olszewski
Nick Mack
Leslie Cariani
Darren Thompson
Location City:San Francisco
Location Country:United States
Products:Residential solar finance, home improvement finance

Spruce Finance is an American consumer finance company specializing in the residential solar finance and efficiency home improvement sectors in the U.S.[1]

The company operates its efficiency business in 50 states and its solar business in 25 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont and Washington.[2]

History

The company was founded in 2015 when Clean Power Finance merged with Kilowatt Financial[3] and is led by CEO Nat Kreamer, co-founder of Sunrun.[4]

Controversies

Spruce has bought several leasing contracts from companies that either sold their holdings or went out of business. When this occurs, their customer service is very weak. Billing mistakes, poor communication, and loss of service with the panels is common. Spruce has dozens of complaints with the Better Business Bureau of Houston and is one of the worst reviewed solar energy companies in the market today. They claim that they are in a transition period but this has been going on for over two years now (as of the fall of 2022).

Investors

Spruce is a private company backed by investors that include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Google Ventures (GV), Duke Energy, Edison International, Dominion Resources, and Claremont Creek Ventures.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Meyers, Glenn(January 15, 2015)Newly Branded Spruce Finance Offers Renewable Energy Financing. Cleantechnica.com.
  2. Stromsa, Karl-Erik (March 1, 2016). "5 MINUTES with Nat Kreamer, CEO of Spruce Finance". Rechargenews.com.
  3. Wesoff, Eric (July 15, 2015) "Clean Power Finance and Kilowatt Financial Are Merging". Greentech Media.
  4. Olson, Syanne (September 6, 2011). "Clean Power Finance closes US$25M investment from KPCB, names new CEO, three board members". PV-Tech.org.
  5. Eckhouse, Brian (May 25, 2016). "Spruce Arranges $120 Million Financing for Rooftop Solar". Bloomberg News.