California this week joined a multistate coalition in suing the Trump administration over a plan to help low-income families install solar panels on their homes.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta of the California Public Utilities Commission and representatives from about 20 other states and Washington, D.C., accused the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of illegally ending the project. They argue that the measure “denies states the critical funding they rely on to increase access to solar energy for low-income and disadvantaged communities across the country.”
The program was awarded under the Biden administration to 60 recipients, including states, tribes, localities, and nonprofit organizations, and was to provide residential solar power projects to more than 900,000 homes across the United States. The EPA announced its termination in August.
“At a time when energy prices are at record highs and continue to rise, the Trump administration is needlessly disrupting 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 by lowering energy bills for working families, reducing carbon emissions, and creating quality union jobs that strengthen our economy.”
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Court of Federal Claims, alleges that EPA’s abrupt termination of the program is a breach of its contractual obligations because the canceled funds were already obligated by Congress to pay recipients. Each state is seeking monetary compensation.
Bonta’s office said the second lawsuit, announced Thursday, alleges the administration violated federal law, including the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution, in canceling the program. The attorney general’s office said the lawsuit seeks to find the termination illegal and order the EPA to reinstate the program. The lawsuit is expected to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.
EPA representatives said Thursday that, following long-standing practice, the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in August that the Solar for All program is “profiteering” and that the agency no longer has legal authority to administer the fund.
“One of the more shocking features of Solar for All involves significant dilution of funds, with many subsidies going through pass-through and pass-through and pass-through and pass-through and pass-through after pass-through, with all intermediaries receiving their share, conservatively estimated at least 15%,” Zeldin said in the post. “What a shame.”
The program was awarded under the Biden administration’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a $27 billion program aimed at combating climate change. If left unchecked, the outages would not only impact individual households but also slow progress in clean energy adoption nationwide, the plaintiffs said.
“The Trump administration’s counterattack on the Solar for All program is a direct attack on clean, affordable energy,” California Energy Commission Chairman David Hochschild said in a statement.
In California alone, approximately $250 million in funding for building community solar and energy storage projects has been terminated. This includes $200 million to the California Public Utilities Commission for community solar power systems, which will provide participating households, primarily low- and moderate-income households, with a 20 percent discount on their monthly electricity bills, state officials said. Many are renters or otherwise do not have access to their own rooftops. The funding also includes $9 million for in-state workforce training.
“Defunding Solar for All is not only bad policy, it is illegal,” CPUC President Alice Reynolds said in a statement. “These grants are lawfully appropriated by Congress and are intended to reduce energy costs and support the transition to a clean energy supply. Revoking these grants is a precarious decision, but we will continue to move toward clean energy for all Californians, fostering economic growth, and creating green jobs for a sustainable future.”
These are the 43rd and 44th lawsuits filed by California against the Trump administration this year.
