Trump EPA aims to scrap $7B in Solar for All low-income aid
TL/DR –
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning to void grants provided to nearly all states under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Solar for All initiative, which provides funds to working families for the installation of solar panels. The decision, which would revoke 60 awards covering 49 states, six tribes, and five national grantees, is framed by the administration as aligning with Congress’s One Big Beautiful Bill that retracted unused climate incentives. Critics argue that the EPA lacks the authority to rescind allocated funds and anticipate legal challenges from states, industry groups, and Senator Bernie Sanders, who created the program to reduce household electricity bills by at least 20%.
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US EPA Plans to Revoke Solar for All Grants
The Inflation Reduction Act’s Solar for All initiative may face a setback as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to cancel the grants promised to almost every state. The move is expected to affect working families intending to install rooftop solar panels, according to a report by The Washington Post‘s Jake Spring.
The Current Situation
In draft letters, the EPA clarified its plans to revoke 60 awards that include 49 states, six tribal areas, and five national grantees. The majority of the funds allocated for the initiative are yet to be spent. The administration’s move is in line with the recent One Big Beautiful Bill passed by Congress, which retracted unspent climate incentives. However, critics argue that the EPA does not have the authority to retract funds already allocated.
Legal challenges are anticipated from states, solar industry groups, and Senator Bernie Sanders – the designer of the program aimed to reduce household power bills by at least 20%. Zealan Hoover, former Biden-era EPA implementation director, stated, “Solar for All is laser focused on helping nearly a million low-income families afford electricity at a time when their bills keep going up.”
The Implications
Rooftop solar installation has emerged as a rapid solution to relieve pressure on the overburdened power grid and protect families from fluctuating fossil fuel prices. The decision to pull back the Solar for All funds threatens to widen the disparity in energy costs between affluent households that can afford panels and renters or homeowners dependent on incentives to join the clean energy revolution.
The move may also derail the projected carbon reduction targets set by the Inflation Reduction Act, possibly leading to higher emissions as heat records tumble and utilities struggle to meet the rising demand for air conditioning and electric vehicles. It is anticipated that communities already exposed to higher pollution levels – often poor, minority, or rural – will bear the most significant impact if cleaner, local energy generation is halted.
Related: Renewable energy lobbyists spend millions to fight GOP rollback of climate incentives
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