Eight businesses and advocacy groups are suing EPA, seeking to reverse its termination of Solar for All.
The program was an effort to expand lower-income Americans’ access to small-scale solar power generation; $7 billion was allocated to 60 recipients in 2024.
Administrator Lee Zeldin announced Aug. 7 that EPA no longer would implement Solar for All, saying it was part of the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), the allocation for which was rescinded July 4 as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
The plaintiffs counter in their complaint that Congress did not repeal the Solar for All program retroactively and that it rescinded only the unobligated balances of the GGRF; the $7 billion for Solar for All was obligated, they state, and the termination violated the law in multiple ways.
The complaint, filed Oct. 6 in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island (1:25-cv-00510), asks the court to find that EPA’s action was illegal and to reinstate the program.
The Southern Environmental Law Center is among the organizations bringing the litigation to federal court. Senior attorney Nick Torrey framed the case as a matter of economic justice: “Families all over the country were counting on energy bill relief that disappeared overnight when the administration unlawfully terminated Solar for All. This popular program was poised to bring more solar to our communities; provide jobs for the small businesses installing those projects; and help families get cheap, clean power.”
As he said EPA would stop implementing Solar for All, Zeldin invoked the metaphor of the Biden administration throwing gold bars off the Titanic. The GGRF was wasteful and rife with documented instances of self-dealing, conflicts of interest, unqualified recipients and reduced oversight, Zeldin charged, while Solar for All entailed dilution of grant money due to the multiple pass-through layers.
The Clean Energy States Alliance said in a news release that EPA itself previously estimated that 900,000 households would benefit from the program; CESA’s own analysis placed participants’ utility bill savings at up to 70% for 20 years.
“This lawsuit is a welcome step,” said CESA Deputy Director Vero Bourg-Meyer. “We hope that EPA reverses course so that Solar for All grantees can all return to work, delivering savings to American households.”
The complaint names EPA and Zeldin as defendants. The eight plaintiffs are potential beneficiaries of Solar for All; they include a labor organization, a homeowner, nonprofits focused on energy affordability, and solar consultants and installers.
All the plaintiff organizations claim significant harm from cancellation of Solar for All. Two are based in Rhode Island.
The complaint states that EPA based its termination of Solar for All solely on Section 60002 of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which reads: “This section repeals and rescinds unobligated funds for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which provides financial and technical assistance to states and other eligible recipients to help enable low-income and disadvantaged communities carry out activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
The complaint states that this wording is not ambiguous, does not apply retroactively and does not extinguish prior liabilities. It states that the vast majority of funding was fully obligated by Sept. 30, 2024, the statutory deadline set in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, under which Solar for All was created.
