“At a time when energy bills are at a record high and only continuing to skyrocket, the Trump Administration is needlessly hampering an industry that can produce safe, reliable, and inexpensive energy,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.
More than a dozen state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, claiming that it broke the law when it terminated more than $7 billion in funding for affordable solar energy projects across the country.
According to The Associated Press, the coalition of attorneys general includes prosecutors from more than a dozen states and the District of Columbia as well as several private stakeholders. Together, they claim that the Environmental Protection Agency’s grant termination violated federal laws on government operations as well as the constitutional separation of powers.
The affordable energy program, launched in 2022 under former President Joe Biden, aims to make renewable energy accessible to about 1 million people nationwide.
In August, though, the Environmental Protection Agency rescinded non-disbursed Solar for All Funds, announcing the termination shortly after President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law passed Congress.
“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, a co-plaintiff in the lawsuit.
The attorneys general note that the program provides funding for lower-income communities that need access to clean-energy programs; it also helps beneficiaries keep their electricity prices reasonable, a point reiterated by California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
“At a time when energy bills are at a record high and only continuing to skyrocket, the Trump Administration is needlessly hampering an industry that can produce safe, reliable, and inexpensive energy,” Bonta said.
“If allowed to stand, the termination of this program would threaten the ability of more than 900,000 households in lower-income and disadvantaged communities across the country to obtain credits for low-cost solar energy, and as a result, lower electricity bills,” Bonta’s office said in a press release. “It would also stall progress on clean energy adoption nationwide, particularly in underserved communities — and it would undercut efforts to build a more innovative economy through job creation and workforce development.”
Bonta’s office also told The Guardian that California alone stands to lose about $250 million if the Solar For All program is shuttered and its remaining funds withheld.
“The Trump administration is trying to hold us in the past, tethered to fossil fuel companies,” he told the Guardian in a virtual call. “In doing so, Trump is making America more expensive and more polluted.”
Sources
Nearly two dozen states sue to stop Trump ending $7bn solar grant program
State attorneys general sue Trump administration for canceled solar program funding
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