Nearly two dozen states sue to block Trump from ending $7 billion solar grant program | Trump administration
Nearly two dozen states have sued the Trump administration over its cancellation of a $7 billion grant program aimed at expanding solar energy in low-income communities, according to court papers.
In a statement Thursday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced two lawsuits filed by a group of states that received grants under the EPA’s Solar for All program. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the end of the program in August. The agency said in an email that it would not comment on pending litigation.
Arizona Attorney General Chris Mayes said canceling the program would affect 900,000 low-income families across the country. About 11,000 low-income households in Arizona will see a 20% rise in energy bills after the state lost $156 million to the Solar for All project.
The lawsuit is among dozens filed by the nation’s 23 Democratic attorneys general against the Trump administration on issues ranging from suspending federal grants to immigration and deploying National Guard troops in cities. “Without this program, clean energy would be out of reach for many Arizonans,” Mayes said in a webcast.
The first complaint seeks monetary damages and was filed Wednesday in the Court of Federal Claims. The second lawsuit will seek to reinstate the program and is expected to be filed later Thursday in federal court in Washington state, Bonta’s statement said.
Bonta said California would lose about $250 million in money Congress pledged for the program.
“The Trump administration is trying to keep us in the past, tied to fossil fuel companies,” he said on the webcast. “By doing so, Trump is making America more expensive and more polluting.” The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which Donald Trump signed into law in July, eliminated a funding source for a program Zeldin called a “boondoggle.” The president has rolled back federal subsidies for solar and wind energy, calling renewable resources too expensive and unsustainable. Reliable.
Mays said canceling the program would hurt underserved communities, citing the Hopi tribe in northern Arizona, which was set to receive a $25 million award for bringing electricity, often for the first time, to hundreds of homes using solar panels and battery storage systems.
The complaints come 10 days after a group of solar companies and labor unions filed a lawsuit to restore the program.
In addition to California and Arizona, states involved in the lawsuits include Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. And the city of Washington. DC.
With a minority of Democrats in both chambers of Congress, and several Democratic governors warning against Trump’s overreach, prosecutors have actively challenged the legality of Trump’s policies.