EPA faces multi-state lawsuit over canceled grants for solar power
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President Trump and EPA chief Lee Zeldin in Smithton, Pennsylvania, last year. Photo: Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Trump administration was sued by some two dozen states that are seeking to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from canceling a $7 billion solar energy program.
The big picture: The states argue in a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington Thursday that the EPA "illegally terminated" the program that's "designed to bring low-cost distributed solar energy to over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities."
- A spokesperson for the EPA declined to comment in a Thursday night email that noted it does not comment on pending litigation.
State of play: Congress appropriated funds for the Solar for All program during President Biden's administration in 2022 through the Inflation Reduction Act.
- EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin in an August YouTube video called the program a "boondoggle" and a "grift" as he announced its cancellation.
- The states named Zeldin and the EPA as defendants in Thursday's lawsuit that's led by the attorneys general of Washington, Minnesota and Arizona.
- Another suit that the states filed in the Court of Federal Claims in D.C. on Wednesday seeks monetary damages for the program's termination.
Separately, Houston's Harris County filed a lawsuit this week against the EPA for canceling about $250 million for solar energy initiatives in Texas.
What they're saying: "Arizona families are already facing sky-high electricity bills, and I will not let the EPA wriggle out of its commitment to fund solar energy projects that would lower costs for more than 11,000 Arizona households," Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement that noted "this energy infrastructure funding has already been appropriated to our state and is owed to Arizonans."
For the record: Joining Thursday's suit are Kentucky's governor and the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, D.C., Hawai'i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont.
- The Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority chair and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation are also plaintiffs.
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