by (Recorder of Georgia) The Trump administration’s statement on Friday that it would cancel almost $7 billion in grants to finance solar energy projects for low-income homes was criticized by a number of congressional Democrats, who said the action was unlawful and would increase families’ energy costs if it were permitted to go forward.
The Solar for All program was established by Democrats in their big 2022 tax, energy, and domestic policy package. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notified states and other grant recipients that it was canceling all unused funding from the program.
The EPA claimed that in the one, stunning statute that President Donald Trump signed on July 4, Republicans abolished the government fund that disbursed the program’s funds.
On social media on Thursday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin stated that the law ended the agency’s legal authority to disburse the money.
In a video uploaded to X, Zeldin stated, “The bottom line is this again: EPA no longer has the authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive.” EPA is acting to permanently terminate this program with Congress’s explicit intent and language in a single, large, magnificent law. We are dedicated to upholding the rule of law and managing public funds responsibly.
Democrats in Congress and the states criticized the action, claiming that it was illegal to revoke the legally-obligated funding.
In a letter to Zeldin and White House Budget Director Russell Vought on Friday, the five Democratic members of Oregon’s congressional delegation expressed their outrage and horror at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) flagrant and illegal termination of $7 billion in federal funding for the 60 organizations that received awards through the Solar for All program.
Sunlight for It is against the law and the Constitution to cancel or revoke any financing that has been authorized by Congress and signed into law.
Letters to 60 states, organizations
On Thursday, the EPA sent letters to the 60 grant recipients—mostly state governments, but also tribes and some multistate projects—notifying them that the grants were being canceled.
According to the letter addressed to the Department of Energy in Oregon, the authority and appropriations for the fund were revoked by the reconciliation bill that Trump signed on July 4.
According to the letter, it is no longer legally acceptable to try to carry on with the program’s administration in the absence of any appropriations or enabling legislation.
Since the EPA no longer has a statutory basis or dedicated funding to continue administering and overseeing the nearly $7 billion outlay to about 60 grant recipients, the agency has decided to end the Solar for All program and its current grants after considering its options.
According to the letter, EPA became aware that participants might have started depending on the program for initial personnel and budgeting decisions. However, it stated that because these expenditures are so early, we anticipate that any harm to interests would be repaired.
The Oregon Department of Energy signaled that a legal challenge would be imminent in a statement released on Friday, stating that it has already invested a substantial amount of administrative costs to launch the program later this year.
According to the department statement, Oregon and the Oregon Solar for All Coalition are already obligated to receive the federal cash. Hearing that the U.S. EPA is taking steps to revoke these already-obligated funds surprises and disappoints us. To make sure these funds continue to benefit Oregonians as intended, ODOE will discuss next measures with our partners, the Governor’s Office, and the state attorney general.
A betrayal
Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey and the ranking member of the influential House Energy and Commerce Committee, like the Democrats from Oregon, declared the action unlawful and projected that it will result in higher energy costs.
Pallone stated in a statement released early Friday that the Trump Administration is robbing working families in broad open. This funding was meant to assist communities and our constituents in reducing their energy costs. In addition to being blatantly unlawful, this administration’s claim of these funds back is a betrayal of working Americans who will now have to pay higher energy bills so that Republicans may continue to stoke their anti-clean energy agenda.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs was among the other Democrats who emphasized the economic benefits.
Hobbs commented on X that President Trump ran on a platform of job creation and expense reduction. Gutting Solar for Everyone will have the opposite effect. It weakens our economy, raises our energy costs, and pollutes our air. I’ll keep fighting for the inexpensive, clean energy that Arizonans deserve and desire.
The Solar for All fund was established by Democrats as a component of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in the statute that was signed into law by President Joe Biden in August 2022 without the backing of the Republican Party in either chamber.
The goal of the Solar for All fund was to lower greenhouse gas emissions while providing 900,000 homes in low-income areas with the advantages of solar power.
According to a list on the EPA website,the awardees includedthe Executive Office of the State of New Hampshire; Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources; the Maine Governor s Energy Office; the Alaska Energy Authority; the Oregon Department of Energy; Washington State Department of Commerce; Bonneville Environmental Foundation in Idaho; Tanana Chiefs Conference in Alaska; New Jersey Board of Public Utilities; Maryland Clean Energy Center; Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority; Virginia Department of Energy; West Virginia Office of Energy; Department of Environment and Conservation Tennessee; Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet; North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality; South Carolina Office of Resilience; the Solar and Energy Loan Fund of St. Lucie County, Inc., in Florida; the Capital Good Fund in Georgia; Minnesota Department of Commerce; the State of Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy; the State of Ohio Office of Budget and Management State Accounting; Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation; Indiana Community Action Association Inc.; New Mexico Energy, Minerals, & Natural Resources Department; State of Louisiana Department of Natural Resources; Hope Enterprise Corporation in Arkansas; the Missouri Environmental Improvement and Energy Resources Authority; the Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska; Colorado Energy Office; Utah Office of Energy Development; Bonneville Environmental Foundation in Montana; Coalition for Green Capital in North Dakota; Coalition for Green Capital in South Dakota; Executive Office of the State of Arizona; Nevada Clean Energy Fund; Hopi Utilities Corporation in Arizona; and other programs that covered multiple states and tribes.
