California this week joined a multistate coalition and sued the Trump administration over the cancellation of a $7 billion grant program designed to help low-income households install solar panels on their homes.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, the California Public Utilities Commission, and representatives from nearly two dozen other states and Washington, D.C., accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of illegally ending the Solar for All Program, a move they say “denies states critical funds they depended on to increase access to solar energy in low-income and disadvantaged communities across the country.”
The program was awarded to 60 recipients, including states, tribes, regions and nonprofits under the Biden administration, and would have delivered residential solar projects to more than 900,000 homes nationwide. The EPA announced its termination in August.
“At a time when energy bills are at a record high and continue to skyrocket, the Trump Administration is unnecessarily hindering an industry that can produce safe, reliable and affordable energy,” Bonta said in a statement. “Solar for All was created to provide relief to all Americans: reducing energy bills for working families, reducing our carbon footprint, and creating high-quality union jobs that would boost our economy.”
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Court of Federal Claims, alleges that the EPA's abrupt cancellation of the program was a breach of its contractual obligation, since the revoked funds had already been obligated to recipients by Congress. Each state seeks monetary damages.
Bonta's office said a second lawsuit, announced Thursday, alleges the administration violated federal laws by canceling the program, including the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit will seek to have the termination declared unlawful and to order the EPA to reinstate the program, the attorney general's office said. He is expected to appear in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
EPA representatives said Thursday that the agency does not comment on pending litigation, in line with longstanding practice.
In August, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a post on
“One of the most shocking features of Solar For All was the massive dilution of money, as many grants are transferred after transfer and all the middlemen take their own cut: at least 15% according to conservative estimates,” Zeldin said in his post. “What a scam.”
The program was awarded under the Biden administration's Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion program aimed at addressing climate change. If termination were allowed, it would not only impact individual households but also halt progress in clean energy adoption across the country, the plaintiffs said.
“The Trump Administration’s recovery of the Solar for All program is a direct attack on clean, affordable energy,” California Energy Commission Chairman David Hochschild said in a statement.
Nearly $250 million in funding for the construction of community solar and storage projects was canceled in California alone. That includes $200 million to the California Public Utilities Commission for community solar systems, which would offer 20% monthly discounts on electricity bills to participating households, including primarily low- and middle-income families, state officials said. Many are renters or do not have access to their own roofs. The funding also included $9 million for workforce training in the state.
“Defunding Solar for All is not only bad policy, it is illegal,” read a statement from CPUC Chairwoman Alice Reynolds. “These grants were legally appropriated by Congress and were intended to help reduce energy costs and transition to a clean energy supply. Revoking funding is a destabilizing decision, but we will continue to move toward clean energy for all Californians, driving economic growth and creating green jobs for a sustainable future.”
These are the 43rd and 44th lawsuits that California has filed against the Trump administration this year.
