Judge restores $7B Solar for All program — SkimNews
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Judge Mary McElroy, a Trump-appointed judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island, vacated the EPA's termination of the $7 billion Solar for All program, ruling it was "contrary to law and in excess of its statutory authority" under the Administrative Procedure Act.
- The court found that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by Trump on July 4, 2025, did NOT convert Solar for All funds into a "lump-sum amount subject to EPA's discretion" — Congress clearly intended EPA to continue administering already-obligated grants.
- Solar for All was created under the Inflation Reduction Act's roughly $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and was geared toward helping low-income and disadvantaged communities access zero-emission technologies; EPA had obligated the funds by a September 2024 deadline with a five-year availability window.
- EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin had argued on social media the day of termination that EPA "no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive."
- The Conservation Law Foundation, Southern Environmental Law Center, Lawyers for Good Government, and Lawyers Committee for Rhode Island sued on behalf of Rhode Island AFL-CIO, Rhode Island Center for Justice, Solar United Neighbors and others; Lawyers for Good Government's Jillian Blanchard said families had seen higher energy bills while billions intended to lower electricity costs sat out of reach.
- The ruling is the latest in a series of legal setbacks to the Trump administration's efforts to scale back renewable energy development.
Why it matters: Low-income and disadvantaged communities slated for Solar for All funding regain access to $7 billion in obligated grants originally committed by a September 2024 deadline and meant to last five years. The ruling rejects EPA's claim that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act handed it discretion to kill obligated climate programs — undercutting Administrator Lee Zeldin's 'no statutory authority' defense.
Ask SkimNews
