Gary loses $33 million for solar projects as feds eliminate program

Chicago Tribune

a day ago

Federal cuts to the Solar for All program will take away approximately $33 million to fund solar energy projects in the City of Gary, officials said.
Former President Joe Biden's Inflation Reduction Act created the Environmental Protection Agency's $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, of which $7 billion was allocated to the Solar for All program. In April 2024, the EPA announced 60 entities that would receive the Solar for All funds, according to an EPA press release.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin recently announced that the Trump Administration has eliminated the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which includes the Solar for All funds, in the administration's tax and spending bill.
'The bottom line is this: EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive,' Zeldin said.
Gary Advocates for Responsible Development member Carolyn McCrady said the organization denounced the decision to cut funding.
'Trump's decision to deny the citizens of Gary the solar panels they have paid for with their tax dollars so that he can give that money to the rich is despicable, unfair and yet another reason why people all over the country, including Gary, heavily disapprove of him,' McCrady said.
City of Gary officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Zach Schalk, program director for Solar United Neighbors, said Indiana lost out on approximately $130 million for solar projects. Schalk said losing the funding 'was a gut punch.'
'This was a devastating setback … for Hoosier families who are seeing electric bills going through the roof or are experiencing an affordability crisis. This is taking away a tool that would've given thousands of low-income and disadvantaged Hoosier households around the state a way to save money on their electric bill,' Schalk said.
The Indiana Community Action Association, Inc., received approximately $117 million for Solar Opportunities Indiana, which is a group of municipal governments and community groups in Fort Wayne, Gary, Indianapolis, and Columbus, as well as six statewide organizations, according to the EPA release announcing the funds.
As a coalition, Solar Opportunities Indiana intended to 'collectively solarize low-income homes while transforming the market in Indiana by creating new financial products and incentives that jumpstart solar for low-income residents, new affordable housing developments, and more,' according to the EPA.
The remaining $13 million would've come from the Industrial Heartland Solar Coalition, a multistate nonprofit, to create solar projects in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Schalk said.
Of the $117 million for Solar Opportunities Indiana, approximately $33 million was allocated to solar projects in Gary, said Alison Becker, program director of Solar Opportunities Indiana for the Indiana Community Action Association Inc.
The Gary funding was divided up to $30 million for solar panels, battery storage and enabling upgrades for up to 240 homes and two to three community-based solar arrays with battery storage to serve approximately 2,100 people, Becker said. Another $3 million was allocated for Black Sun Light Sustainability to provide another community solar array, which would've served another 500 people, she said.
'(Gary officials) will probably be able to replace some of that with other philanthropic investments, but it's hard to close a gap that wide,' Becker said.
Overall, Solar for All funding would've helped 7,000 Indiana households to reduce their electricity bills by 20% through renewable energy projects, Becker said.
Becker said the organization spent the summer finalizing workforce development studies, finishing feasibility studies, and creating marketing materials when officials were told the funding was cut.
'It was extremely disappointing,' Becker said. 'A lot of things were finally coming together and we were at that jumping off point. It was really disappointing to be told, 'Don't jump.''
Becker and Schalk said all options will be considered, including litigation, to try to reinstate the funding.