Attorney General Ellison obtains $150,000 from solar installers

Ambia Solar and Everlight Solar agree to pay restitution and change sales practices

September 9, 2025 (SAINT PAUL) — Attorney General Keith Ellison has obtained Assurances of Discontinuance against Ambia Energy, LLC d/b/a Ambia Solar and Sunburn Construction LLC, d/b/a Everlight Solar. Attorney General Ellison alleged that Ambia and Everlight’s door-to-door salespeople engaged in deceptive and misleading conduct in their attempts to sell residential solar arrays to Minnesotans and violated state law regarding door-to-door sales. For example, Attorney General Ellison alleged that the companies’ salespeople misled consumers about the companies’ affiliation with consumers’ utilities and failed to make mandatory disclosures about the purpose of their visits. Attorney General Ellison also alleged that Ambia assigned itself the renewable energy credits (RECs) generated by consumers’ installed solar arrays, and that Everlight employed misleading scripts about utility rate hikes and the reason for their visit.

Everlight and Ambia have each agreed to pay $75,000 to the Attorney General’s Office within 90 days. This money will be deposited into the newly-created Consumer Protection Restitution Account (CPRA), unless the CPRA is already full due to other pending payments. The CPRA was created by the Minnesota Legislature to be a fund that, among other things, is available to restitute consumers who were harmed by companies that have gone bankrupt or for some other reason are unable to make consumers whole. Prior to the CPRA, whenever a defendant or respondent was required to pay civil penalties to the state of Minnesota, or the Attorney General was unable to reasonably distribute paid restitution to impacted consumers, those funds typically went to the state’s general fund. Now, the Attorney General may deposit recovered funds into the CPRA and distribute them to scam or fraud victims who cannot receive restitution from the entity that cheated them.

In addition to the monetary payments, Everlight and Ambia have agreed to modify their sales practices. Ambia has further agreed to assist consumers in recouping the value of the renewable energy credits Ambia assigned itself in residential solar array contracts with those consumers. Both Everlight and Ambia cooperated with the Attorney General’s Office in reaching these resolutions.

“It’s important for companies to be upfront and honest with their customers,” Attorney General Ellison said. “I am pleased that these companies have decided to do right by the people who trusted them at their homes, and I am pleased that my Office can now apply the payments made by companies like Everlight and Ambia  towards helping the victims of other scams or unfair dealings. The new Consumer Protection Restitution Account lets us better serve Minnesotans, providing restitution even when the companies that victimized our neighbors have ceased to exist. I was proud to support the creation of this new fund, and I am grateful to the legislators who got this fund signed into law. This consumer restitution fund will do quite a lot to help this Office ensure people can afford their lives.”

Attorney General Ellison encourages Minnesotans to submit complaints about any misleading sales presentations, or any other issues with door-to-door salespeople, by filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office via its online complaint form. Minnesotans can also call the Office at (651) 296-3353 from within the Twin Cities or (800) 657-3787 from Greater Minnesota.