Over 20 US states have filed legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), disputing the agency’s decision to cancel a $7bn programme designed to expand solar power access for low-income households.
The scheme, known as “Solar For All”, was introduced under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and had allocated grants to support rooftop and community solar projects.
This was part of a drive to reduce carbon emissions and make solar power more accessible to households.
The EPA cancelled the programme in August and withdrew roughly 90% of the funds granted to states that had been awarded, according to the lawsuit.
EPA administrator Lee Zeldin commented in July that such actions would be part of the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” spending cuts, which sought to end many Biden-era renewable initiatives as a supposed cost-saving measure.
Challenged by the states
The states behind the legal challenge argued the funding would boost solar deployment, cut greenhouse-gas emissions tied to electricity production and lower energy bills.
“Congress passed a solar energy program to help make electricity costs more affordable, but the administration is ignoring the law and focused on the conspiracy theory that climate change is a hoax,” said Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown.
Demonstrating the impact of this per state, the release noted that the EPA’s decision “jeopardises” about $156m for Washington state.
Leading the complaint are Brown and the attorneys general of Arizona and Minnesota, joined by the attorneys general of
California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
The governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, as well as the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, are also joining the complaint.
Challenged by the industry
Earlier in the month, a coalition of nonprofits and solar installers filed a similar lawsuit, claiming the EPA had “unilaterally and illegally terminated” the programme.
The claim notes that this is in breach of the Administrative Procedure Act and its “constitutional authority” by cancelling a Congress-approved programme.
A separate lawsuit – filed in Rhode Island by labour unions, solar firms, and community groups – argues the EPA’s action will result in nearly a million people losing access to affordable solar power, and that “hundreds of thousands of good-paying, high-quality jobs will be lost.”
Just as the states’ legal action against the EPA cites, the Rhode Island lawsuit states that many of the grants had already been awarded before the cancellation and asserts that the agency lacked authority to reclaim them.
As lawsuits continue to roll in, complainants hope to end the Trump administration’s continued rollback of Biden-era renewable initiatives.
