--- title: "Energea EV-Charging Credit Memo Projects Covenant Shortfalls and Defers Security Conditions; First Loan Still Unfunded" url: https://altstreet.investments/news/energea-ev-charging-credit-memo-covenant-shortfalls-deferred-security-2026-10-28 kind: news-article updated: 2026-10-30 description: "Energea Portfolio 4's Form 1-U credit memo for its $10M ChargedEV platform: fund-restated DSCR below the 1.20x covenant in 13 monthly tests from April 2027, security conditions deferred by waiver, initial loan of up to $270,000 unfunded, no guarantor." publisher: AltStreet (https://altstreet.investments) license: Public factual pages may be read, quoted and cited with attribution and a link. Bulk redistribution is not permitted. --- # Energea EV-Charging Credit Memo Projects Covenant Shortfalls and Defers Security Conditions; First Loan Still Unfunded The credit memo Energea Portfolio 4 filed on Form 1-U for its $10 million, 13.50% EV-charging platform with ChargedEV Holdings shows the fund's own restatement of the borrower's model falling below the 1.20x coverage covenant in 13 monthly tests from April 2027, and a written waiver moving the UCC filings, account control agreements and other security to post-funding deadlines. The initial loan of up to $270,000 remains unfunded. There is no guarantor. By Michael E., Head of Research, AltStreet Research (https://altstreet.investments/authors/michael-e). Published October 30, 2026. Platform: Energea Global (https://altstreet.investments/platforms/reviews/energea). Entity: Energea Portfolio 4 USA LP (CIK 1853011, https://altstreet.investments/edgar/1853011). The credit memo Energea Portfolio 4 USA LP filed as Item 9 of a Form 1-U on October 28, 2026 (accession 0001853011-26-000021) sets out what the fund's own underwriting found on its new $10 million EV-charging lending platform with ChargedEV Holdings LLC. Two findings stand out. The fund's restatement of the borrower's financial model on the agreement's actual terms projects debt service coverage of 1.07x in 2027, with the trailing six-month ratio below the 1.20x covenant in 13 monthly tests from April 2027 and a low of 0.95x in August 2027. And under a waiver agreement dated October 20, the UCC filings, the deposit and securities account control agreements, the notice to Tesla, the insurance endorsements, the closing certificates and the legal opinions were moved from closing conditions to post-funding conditions with fixed deadlines. The Master Loan Agreement, dated October 14 and executed October 15, 2026, is an uncommitted senior secured platform capped at $10,000,000 at a fixed 13.50% a year; its first project loan, for up to $270,000 against a hub in Norcross, Georgia, remains unfunded. The borrower is a North Carolina holding company formed in July 2026 and wholly owned by its founder, Jeremy Watrous, and there is no guarantor. ## What the filing shows The two coverage figures in the memo measure different things, and the memo gives both. The comfortable one is for the single documented loan: Tesla's net remittances to the Norcross project company averaged $34,656 a month from May to September 2026, and after the energy cost and rent in the borrower's May and June profit and loss statements the cash flow available for debt service is about $12,000 a month before insurance, which covers the $270,000 advance's interest-only payment of $3,038 about 3.9 times and its $4,986 level payment about 2.4 times. The uncomfortable one is for the borrower's whole model, last saved September 14, 2026, which assumes three loans totaling $825,915 (Norcross $270,000, Morrisville $420,513 and a second Norcross loan of $135,402) funded from the cash flow of both hubs, with the Morrisville hub, open only since October 1, 2026, ramping up through 2027. The borrower built that model with no interest-only period and a lower monthly rate than the agreement provides; restated by the fund on the executed terms, for the same amounts, dates and cash flows, annual debt service is about $179,000 in 2027 and $183,000 from 2028, and coverage is 1.07x in 2027, 1.29x in 2028 and 1.54x or more from 2029. Only the Norcross advance is documented; the other two loans would each need the fund's approval, and the memo says the model is to be refreshed on the agreement's terms before any advance beyond it. The memo is the fund's own credit paper, filed in full. Each hub joins the platform through its own Project Loan Agreement; each advance is interest only for three months and then amortizes in level monthly payments over seven years. The $10 million cap is described as a ceiling, not a commitment: the fund may decline, defer, reduce or condition any advance even when every condition is met, and may terminate the facility by notice. In place of a guarantee the agreement requires that the founder pledge 100% of the borrower's equity, that all hub revenue be paid by Tesla, as billing agent, into fund-controlled accounts, that a three-month debt service reserve be funded, and that the founder be personally liable for defined bad acts such as fraud, diversion of revenue or a collusive insolvency filing; he may cure a coverage shortfall with cash equity but is not obliged to. The memo describes these as the facility's required arrangements; the account control agreements that make the cash control operate are among the conditions deferred to after funding. The borrower is new; the hubs are not quite. ChargedEV Holdings was formed in July 2026 as a holding company, but the Norcross project company it is to own was organized in November 2025 and its hub has been in commercial operation since April 2026, and the Morrisville, North Carolina hub opened to the public on October 1, 2026. Both run on Tesla V4 Supercharger hardware under Tesla's Supercharger for Business program, with Tesla providing operations, maintenance, network access, billing and in-car navigation routing. Tesla's payout statements to the Norcross project company show sessions rising from 3,002 in May to 3,443 in August 2026 and net revenue after Tesla's fee and taxes rising from $29,646 to $39,599 a month. The memo states there are no entity financial statements and no operating record before 2026. Terms the fund negotiated beyond the coupon: a warrant over up to 10% of the borrower's equity at an aggregate exercise price of 20% of advances disbursed, exercisable only once $2,000,000 has been advanced; a right of first refusal over the borrower's pipeline that ends once cumulative advances reach $10,000,000; and a voluntary prepayment premium of 50% of the principal prepaid. The memo compares the 13.50% rate with an indicative 8.6% to 9.1% for sponsored US middle-market first-lien unitranche loans and attributes the roughly 440 to 490 basis point premium to a first exposure below $1 million, a newly formed borrower, uncontracted revenue and the absence of a guarantee. The deferred conditions are specific. Under the Waiver, Consent and Amendment Agreement of October 20, 2026, the fund waived, for the initial advance only, the UCC filings, the deposit and securities account control agreements, the notice to Tesla, the insurance endorsements, the closing certificates and the legal opinions, converting them into post-funding conditions due three to thirty business days after funding; missing any deadline is an event of default without a cure period, and no further advance is considered until all are met. Lien searches had not been run in North Carolina or Georgia. Identity, integrity and credit screening of the founder is a condition to the first advance and was not yet on file. The closing certificates of August 30, 2026, the Tesla consent and the deposit-account schedule named a different Energea vehicle, Energea Portfolio 6 EV Infra, LP, rather than Portfolio 4, and were being re-issued in the fund's name. ## Background Energea Portfolio 4 USA LP is one of the Regulation A limited partnerships managed by Energea Global LLC, which raises from retail investors through its own platform and has until now invested in solar generation. The memo describes EV fast charging as a segment new to the fund, entered as a senior secured lender rather than an owner. The facility itself was announced before the memo was filed; what the October 28 filing adds is the underwriting behind it. The fund filed a Form 253G2 offering circular supplement the same day. The founder's separate Maryland project, held by ChargedEV Baltimore LLC, is excluded from the right of first refusal. The Master Loan Agreement describes it as financed by a US Small Business Administration loan underwritten by Stearns Bank, N.A.; the memo reports the founder now says SBA guidance treats EV charging as a passive business ineligible for 7(a) loans, that neither the SBA loan nor the Stearns Bank financing will proceed, and that he intends to propose the project to the fund for financing, which would require the borrower to acquire it and the fund to approve it. ## The pattern in AltStreet's data This is the second Energea credit memo in a week to disclose a facility whose security was not complete at signing. Portfolio 5 LATAM's October 28 memo, covered by AltStreet, reported $2.94 million of Colombian solar loans advanced with the collateral pledge still unsigned and new advances paused pending perfection. Portfolio 4's memo takes the other route: nothing advanced yet, and perfection pushed to post-funding conditions under a written waiver with fixed deadlines. Energea's practice of filing its full credit memos as Form 1-U exhibits is unusual among Regulation A issuers and is what makes this level of detail available. AltStreet's review of Energea covers the fee layers and the earlier Portfolio 2 acquisition memos. ## Why it matters The agreement would introduce exposure to a different asset and a different credit than Portfolio 4 has held before, subject to funding, and the memo is candid about where the risk sits. The projected covenant shortfall and the deferred security are the two findings that describe the credit most directly: the first says the borrower's own plan, on the agreement's terms, does not cover debt service during the Morrisville ramp-up without the fund sculpting advances or the founder choosing to cure; the second says that for the first advance the fund will be lending before its liens are filed and its account control is in force. The absence of a guarantor matters less on its own, because the memo never relies on one: the fund's position, as it describes it, rests on hub cash flow, first-ranking security over each project company and the borrower, and control of cash. The borrower's backing is thin by the memo's own description: a single full-time principal, no balance sheet behind the holding company, and a founder whose reported liquidity of $275,000 within a net worth of about $2.7 million is unaudited and not reconciled to bank or brokerage evidence. The borrower's own capital needs forecast of September 26, 2026 shows $9,264,000 of gross capital expenditure for 14 pipeline projects, with a first draw of $168,500 in December 2026; the memo labels these borrower estimates, not commitments of either party. ## What the filing does not show The memo is the lender's assessment at signing. It does not show whether the initial advance has since been funded, whether the post-funding conditions were met on their deadlines, whether the cash control and reserve arrangements are operating, or whether the founder's screening has been completed. The May and June hub results it relies on are borrower-prepared; the memo notes the project company bank statements delivered October 12, 2026 are available to reconcile them, without saying they have been. The borrower model's figures are the borrower's, restated by the fund, and the pipeline forecast is an estimate. Nothing in the filing addresses how much of Portfolio 4's capital the platform could eventually represent. ## Key facts - Fund-restated borrower model (three loans totaling $825,915 across the Norcross and Morrisville hubs): DSCR 1.07x in 2027, 1.29x in 2028, 1.54x or more from 2029; trailing six-month DSCR below the 1.20x covenant in 13 monthly tests from April 2027, low 0.95x in August 2027; single Norcross loan covers its level payment about 2.4 times on about $12,000 a month of cash flow, per Form 1-U accession 0001853011-26-000021 filed October 28, 2026 - Master Loan Agreement dated October 14, 2026, executed October 15: uncommitted senior secured platform, aggregate cap $10,000,000, 13.50% fixed, three months interest only then seven-year level amortization per advance; initial loan of up to $270,000 unfunded - Borrower ChargedEV Holdings LLC formed July 2026, wholly owned by founder Jeremy Watrous; no guarantor; 100% equity pledge, cash control, three-month debt service reserve, founder liable only for defined bad acts - One Project Loan Agreement signed (Norcross, Georgia) for up to $270,000; no advance funded; Tesla net remittances averaged $34,656 a month May to September 2026; cash flow available for debt service about $12,000 a month before insurance - Waiver No. 1 (October 20, 2026) defers UCC filings, account control agreements, Tesla notice, insurance endorsements, closing certificates and legal opinions to post-funding conditions; lien searches not yet run; founder screening not yet on file; closing certificates named Energea Portfolio 6 EV Infra, LP and are being re-issued - Warrant over up to 10% of borrower equity at 20% of advances disbursed, exercisable after $2,000,000 advanced; right of first refusal to $10,000,000; prepayment premium 50% of principal prepaid; founder's reported liquidity $275,000 within net worth of about $2.7 million, unaudited ## Sources - Energea Portfolio 4 USA LP, Form 1-U, Item 9: ChargedEV Holdings LLC Master Loan Agreement credit memo, filed October 28, 2026: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1853011/000185301126000021/port4_1u.htm - Energea Portfolio 4 USA LP, Form 253G2 offering circular supplements: https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001853011&type=253G2&dateb=&owner=include&count=40 - AltStreet: Energea LATAM Fund Discloses $2.94 Million in Solar Loans With Collateral Pledge Still Unsigned (October 28, 2026): https://altstreet.investments/news/energea-portfolio-5-latam-klima-colombia-solar-loans-security-not-perfected-2026-10-28 ## SEC accession numbers - 0001853011-26-000021 --- Source page: https://altstreet.investments/news/energea-ev-charging-credit-memo-covenant-shortfalls-deferred-security-2026-10-28 Machine index: https://altstreet.investments/llms.txt AltStreet reads what platforms, funds and issuers file with the SEC and what they tell investors, and publishes the difference. Figures are as filed or as captured on the date stated; nothing here is investment advice.