The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it would eliminate a $7 billion grant program designed to help low-income households install solar panels in their homes.
The “Solar for All” program was awarded to 60 recipients, including states, tribal groups, local and nonprofits, under the Biden administration’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion program to address climate change.
All-funded solar provided residential solar projects to over 900,000 households nationwide.
In an X post, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin described the program as Boondoggle, which actually wasn’t enough for a solar power project.
“One of the more shocking features of solar was about a massive dilution of money as all the intermediaries got their own cuts after passing through, and then passed through passthrough after passing through. “What a glyft.
“With clear language and intentions from Congress in one big beautiful bill, the EPA is taking action to end this program forever,” Zeldin added, referring to President Trump’s taxes and the bill he recently signed.
Solar energy is widely considered to be one of the best ways to deal with climate change by eliminating emissions resulting from burning coal or natural gas to generate electricity. This week, Los Angeles celebrated the opening of the Elland facility in Kern County, one of the nation’s largest solar and battery power plants.
California has multiple solar-funded projects, according to the federal project database.
It includes a $250 million award for all California solar programs aimed at funding solar power initiatives throughout the state. The California Public Utilities Commission, the California Energy Commission, and the California Labor and Labor Development Agency were planning to oversee and distribute grants focused specifically on low-income and disadvantaged communities and California tribes.
Two nonprofits, Community Power Coalition and Grid Alternatives, have received a $250 million award for individual efforts to develop community solar and multi-family solar projects across several states, including California.
The environmental group was furious at the announcement. According to the non-profit climate, the program was estimated to have saved $400 a year on electricity bills, created over 200,000 jobs and eliminated more than 30 million tonnes of air pollution.
“This is a deliberate choice to make life even more difficult for working Americans,” said Alex Glass, communications director at Climate Power, in a statement. “The Trump administration isn’t just walking away from climate solutions. They’re pulling affordable energy from the families who need it the most.”
Having received a record-breaking donation from fossil fuel companies during the 2024 presidential election, Trump is making many efforts to slow the transition to clean energy, encouraging the use of fossil fuels, including cancelling credits for solar and wind projects by the end of 2027.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, condemned the EPA’s decision to cancel the program as illegal. Funding for the program is already fully mandatory and contracts for all recipients have been signed, he said.
“This latest robbery from the Trump administration will cause energy costs, keeping Americans looking at exclusive electric utility, straining the grid and reducing reliability,” Markey said in a statement. “An attack on solar on all Trump and Zeldin programs and attempts to cancel legally binding contracts means that energy bills will continue to surge nationwide.”
The program generated over $8 billion in overall savings across all 50 states, Markey said.
The environmental protection network, which consists of more than 600 former EPA employees, described the decision as a “sudden and arbitrary” betrayal of public health, environmental justice and economic opportunity.
“The community has promised that relief from energy cost punishment remains in the dark,” former EPA senior advisor Zealan Hoover said in a statement. “Nearly one million families will pay hundreds of dollars each year for the electricity bill because the Trump administration has killed more programs than it pays for itself.”
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