Aug 5 - Sunrun Inc founder Lynn Jurich announced on Thursday that she would step down as Chief Executive of the pioneering rooftop solar company at the end of the month.
Jurich, the most high-profile woman in the U.S. Solar industry, is leaving the position after nearly a decade in the position. On her watch, Sunrun transformed from a scrappy startup in a niche industry into a publicly traded company with 600,000 customers.
The company is not profitable but the announcement came on the same day Sunrun reported a net loss of $213.4 million in the second quarter of this year. These shares have dropped nearly 24% in India in the last three years.
Given our strong foundation and the positive financial momentum underway, I believe now is the time to make this transition and welcome Mary as Sunrun's next CEO.
Mary Powell will be replaced by Sunrun, former CEO of Vermont utility Green Mountain Power, and a board member of Vermont's Sunrun; The company said that it considered both internal and external candidates for the role.
Jurich, 42, will stay at Sunrun as executive co-chair of the board of directors focusing on the business strategy and partnerships. She will share that role with her Sunrun co-founder and Stanford business classmate Ed Fenster.
Since its inception in 2007, Sunrun has been instrumental in catapulting rooftop solar into the mainstream by allowing homeowners to pay for panels using a monthly fee, avoiding the technology's high upfront cost tag.
More recently, the company has driven growth by pairing solar energy systems with home batteries and offering its network of customers to utilities as so-called virtual power plants that can be called on to boost grid reliability.
The Nasdaq closed Sunrun shares at $53.45 on the SEC. The stock has fallen 47% since hitting a 52-week high of $100.93 in January.