A Massachusetts-based solar installation company laid off 60 workers at its Provo location, notifying the state days after the job cuts had already started.

The mass layoff by Bright Planet Solar, Inc. was disclosed April 24 in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, filed with the Utah Department of Workforce Services, according to the agency’s online database.

The company’s chief executive officer, Mikey Heinz, said the layoffs followed a rapid collapse in business tied to lost contracts and shifting conditions in the residential solar market.

“We just literally kind of got the rug pulled out from under us,” Heinz said.

The company has since been laying off employees across all 14 of its U.S. locations, he said, as it restructures in response to declining sales.

The notice, obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune on Monday through a public records request, states the Provo layoffs began April 20 and were expected to be complete by May 4.

Bright Planet Solar, which also does business as Bright Ops, is headquartered in Massachusetts and has Utah offices at 5152 N. Edgewood Drive in Provo — where the layoffs occurred — as well as another location in Pleasant Grove.

It also has operations out of California, Illinois, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Puerto Rico, according to Heinz and the company’s website.

Federal WARN laws generally require companies conducting mass layoffs to provide advance notice to workers and state officials, though some exceptions apply. Typically, employers must provide at least a 60-day notice before a mass layoff, plant closure or relocation.

The notice filed with Utah was dated four days after the layoffs had already begun.

The company said in the notice that it was forced to take “immediate action” following “sudden” and “unexpected” contract terminations with key customers.

The biggest blow came in February, Heinz said, when its dealer agreement with Sunrun — which accounted for about 95% of its sales and installations — was terminated.

“It was a complete surprise,” Heinz said. “We did $600 million with Sunrun last year then and then we were talking about expanding with them this year.”

At the same time, Heinz said, the company was already under pressure from broader industry shifts, including changes to federal solar incentives that he said reduced demand by increasing the upfront cost of residential installations for homeowners.

Through the tax credit, homeowners could get up to 30% off the cost of installing solar panels. But President Trump rolled back those incentives as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and the federal tax credit for residential solar installations expired at the end of 2025.

After losing its primary partnership, he said the company then attempted to shift to working with another residential solar financing and installation partner, but that company later exited the residential solar market.

As a result, Heinz said the company’s monthly installations dropped from roughly 1,500 per month to fewer than 200, with new sales continuing to decline. The company previously had more than 1,500 employees, he said, but now has around 600.

“The industry as a whole is going through a lot of turmoil,” Heinz said. “The irony of it is, you turn on the TV, and all you’ll hear is the energy crisis [and] that we need more energy.”