Aspen Power Case Advances Over Payout Changes Pushed by Carlyle

Aspen Power Partners LLC lost its bid Monday to end litigation over governance changes that allegedly handed Carlyle Group Inc. control over the solar business and upped payouts to the private equity firm.

A Delaware Chancery Court judge let the father of an Aspen Power founder move forward with a challenge to operating agreement amendments—enacted with another co-founder’s approval—that restructured the board and accelerated compounding of cash distributions to Carlyle. The lawsuit names Aspen Power, founder Jorge Vargas, and another board member as defendants, but not Carlyle.

The new operating agreement, adopted in late 2024, followed about two years after ...