What happens at the end of my contract?
For homeowners who receive no-cost energy systems through California's SGIP program, you have a few options at the end of your Haven contract.
Our contract (also known as your "Energy Services Agreement") is a 10-year agreement in which Haven owns and operates your energy system. This is what allows us to claim the SGIP reimbursement and associated federal tax credit, while providing a qualified customer with a zero out-of-pocket system.
At the end of your Haven contract, you have options:
1. You can transfer ownership of the energy system to yourself OR
2. You can Haven remove it at no cost to you.
Note: If you sell your home before the end of the term, the new homeowner can take over the contract.)
How do I transfer ownership of the system to myself?
If you decide to transfer ownership of the system, we will ask you to pay us the fair market value (FMV) of your service contract, which we estimate as a nominal amount, e.g. $1. The reason we can’t write “$1” (or any fixed number) into the contract today is because ownership transfers must follow the legal principle of FMV.
FMV is not a number we get to choose – it’s defined by law as the price a willing buyer and willing seller would agree to under normal market conditions at the time of transfer.
That means we are not legally allowed to lock in a price years in advance. Even though in practice, after ten years of use, the value of your battery is expected to be minimal, we have to preserve the possibility that market conditions could be different when the transfer actually happens.
This isn’t about us trying to charge more – it’s about complying with accounting and tax rules that require FMV to be determined at the time ownership changes hands.
Why can't Haven just give me the system for free?
Interestingly, when we first rolled out our contract terms, we actually tried to include language that would just allow us to just give the systems to customers but were flagged by SGIP (and our lawyers) that doing so could create a hefty tax burden for folks, something we certainly wanted to avoid.
We know the above is a bit complicated. Don't worry – at the end of your agreement, we’ll review all available options with you so you feel confident about moving forward with your choice.