Scoop: BlocPower is shutting down

BlocPower, a company that installed heat pumps and other energy upgrades in homes, apartment buildings, and houses of worship, is shutting down and liquidating its assets. The company had told investors last month it was trying to restructure, but has now decided to wind down instead.

The shutdown matters most for people who signed long-term lease contracts with BlocPower for heat pumps or other electrification work. It's unclear what happens to those existing leases now. BlocPower said it had completed projects in more than 5,000 households, commercial buildings, and houses of worship, mostly in cities like New York, Oakland, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Washington, D.C. If you have a contract with BlocPower, its future is uncertain while the company sorts out its finances.

The company also raised more than $3 million from everyday investors through crowdfunding campaigns, promising annual interest payments over a decade or more. Those investors likely won't get their money back, since larger creditors like Goldman Sachs and VoLo Earth Ventures get paid first and may not be fully repaid either. BlocPower's own filings show it had a net loss of nearly $737,000 last year, just $80,000 in cash, and more than $4.5 million in debt against $3.5 million in assets.

The company's troubles built up over time: some project contracts fell apart or never started, rising interest rates and electricity prices squeezed profits, and the Trump administration froze or cancelled federal funding for home electrification programs that BlocPower relied on.