Addition will add 60 employees to Maine-based company
ReVision Energy expects to add 60 employee-owners with the acquisition of Sunbug Solar. (Courtesy photo) Two powerhouse renewable energy contractors are slated to become one as ReVision Energy in Maine is acquiring Sunbug Solar of Massachusetts, a move a ReVision executive says will lay groundwork for future solar development in New Hampshire.
The South Portland, Maine-based ReVision, an employee-owned company, is set to bring in 60 new employee-owners from Sunbug between the Bay State business’ offices in Westfield and Woburn, according to Dan Weeks, ReVision’s vice president of business development. ReVision announced the move Nov. 9.
Collectively, the two contractors have completed roughly 18,000 solar installations in New England, and ReVision has performed “north of 5,000” installations in New Hampshire, Weeks said. In the Granite State, ReVision has branches in Brentwood and Enfield.
Sunbug has worked exclusively in Massachusetts and occasionally in Connecticut since its founding in 2009, Weeks said. He declined to share Sunbug’s purchase price in a phone interview Nov. 10.
The two firms began talks of acquisition a year ago, Weeks said, when they expressed a shared desire to pool their knowledge together, being mutual members of the Amicus Solar Cooperative, a Colorado-based coalition of nearly 80 solar energy companies nationwide.
The acquisition will also allow ReVision and former Sunbug staff to expedite the time it would take them to adhere to Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey’s goals for the state to have both a 49% reduction in greenhouse gases and reach a 40% renewably-sourced energy mark by 2030.
“Bringing on a Massachusetts-based firm with 14 years of history there and really deep expertise … will certainly strengthen the entire company,” Weeks said.
Sunbug’s two offices will operate under the ReVision brand by the end of the companies’ brand transition, which ReVision expects to complete by mid-2024, the firm stated in a news release. Meanwhile, Weeks expects the move to open new employment opportunities, with 30 open positions at ReVision. Sunbug Solar CEO Janice DiPietro will assume a new leadership role at ReVision.
ReVision has an existing office in North Andover, Massachusetts, which Weeks noted is close to Sunbug’s branch in Woburn. He said ReVision aims to merge the two branches into a larger location over the next year and retain the Westfield branch, and eventually develop a branch in the South Shore area of Massachusetts.
Weeks said the Granite State impact of the acquisition is a long-term plan for ReVision. The company hopes employee-owners can become better acquainted with solar installations on tall building rooftops, parking garages and carports — structures he said Sunbug contractors have a deep background with. He tied this with a goal of increasing solar energy reach into New Hampshire, which he noted is lagging behind other New England states.
The NH Department of Energy reported 1.1% of the state’s net electricity was generated by solar energy in 2021, compared to 20% in Massachusetts and about 3% in Maine, according to the Energy Information Administration.
“We think that this is potentially an inflection point for the New Hampshire market,” Weeks said, citing new development of the state Department of Environmental Services’ Climate Action Plan.
NHDES was recently awarded a $3 million formula grant from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to develop a Priority Climate Action Plan by March 1, 2024, which aims to spur “actionable measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with an eye toward desired grant opportunities.” After the priority plan is introduced, NHDES must develop a Comprehensive Climate Action Plan by August 2025.
