Solar for None? What's next after federal program axed.

Politico

2 days ago

Soldier on. Hang it up. Fight.
Those are some of the options that solar energy nonprofits and states are weighing after the Trump administration moved last week to terminate the Biden-era $7 billion Solar for All program.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin argued that July's passage of President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act means the agency lacks both the authority and the money 'to keep this boondoggle alive.'
So far, none of the 60 awardees has announced plans to challenge the actions nor to agree to the terminations. But three recipients, granted anonymity to speak about internal discussions, told our Jean Chemnick they're weighing both options — including whether to accept EPA's offer for access to money to help wind down their programs.
EPA is 'basically trying to make it sound like you'll never get your funding unless you agree to their terms, and that's just not correct,' Jillian Blanchard, vice president of climate and environmental justice at Lawyers for Good Government, told Jean about EPA's termination notices. 'People are owed what they're owed.'
President Joe Biden's climate law created Solar for All as part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. It was designed to promote community solar energy in underserved areas, through grants to each state and territory, though some grants went to nonprofits in states whose leaders did not want it. The awards ranged from $43.5 million to nearly $250 million.
The Trump administration has been trying for months to terminate the other $20 billion of grants in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, but Solar for All had been safe, until Trump's megabill became law.
Representatives of the three recipients told Jean that some awardees don't have the money to continue their activities without the federal money. Some can't even access EPA's grant portal to cover past outlays.
Duanne Andrade, executive director of the Solar and Energy Loan Fund, which received a $156 million grant to set up a solar revolving loan for Florida, called EPA's move 'disheartening.'
'In Florida, we're about to see the highest energy rate increase in history,' she told Jean. 'And all of this impacts low- and moderate-income people more than anyone. These are the people that are paying more already for capital, for energy, for housing, for everything.'
Senate Democrats enter the frayMeanwhile, supporters of Solar for All are pushing back on the Trump administration's justification for terminating the grants.
Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) argued in a Friday letter that the Republican law repealed only unobligated funds. EPA had already obligated the Solar for All money, so it can't be clawed back, they said, citing statements from congressional Republicans and the Congressional Budget Office.
'Neither CBO nor Republicans understood the repeal and rescission of the GGRF to save anything more than EPA's unspent oversight dollars,' the Democrats write. 'Wishful statutory interpretation on the part of EPA does not enable EPA to cancel lawfully obligated grants.'
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