More than 20 states filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, challenging the agency’s decision to cancel a $7 billion program aimed at making solar energy more affordable for low-income families.
The program, called “Solar for All,” was created in 2022 under the ACA and has allocated grants to deploy rooftop and community solar projects. It was part of the Biden administration’s push to reduce carbon pollution and was supposed to make solar energy accessible to nearly a million additional American households.
But in August, the EPA announced the program was being canceled and withdrew about 90% of the grant money from accounts where states received the awards, according to the lawsuit.
The EPA has been aggressive in its attempts to restore clean energy funding approved under the Biden administration. The new lawsuit will test whether the agency overstepped its reach in this case. The states behind the legal challenge had hoped the funding would boost solar energy supplies, reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity production and lower energy prices.
“Congress passed a solar program to help make electricity more affordable, but the administration is ignoring the law and focusing on the conspiracy theory that climate change is a hoax,” Nick Brown, Washington state’s attorney general, said in a press release. The EPA’s decision “puts at risk” about $156 million for Washington state, the statement said.
Earlier this month, a group of nonprofits and solar installers filed suit Similar lawsuit Because the program was cancelled.
In response to questions about the most recent lawsuit, the White House directed NBC News to the EPA, which declined to comment on pending lawsuits, which is its standard practice.
All of the states behind the lawsuit have Democratic attorneys general or governors. Washington, Arizona, and Minnesota are leading this challenge. The complaint was filed in the Western District of Washington.
The lawsuit alleges that the EPA “unilaterally and illegally terminated the program,” violating the Administrative Procedure Act, which sets out how federal agencies operate. It also says the EPA exceeded its “constitutional authority” by trying to rescind a program and funding approved by Congress.
The new lawsuit is part of a two-pronged approach states are taking to fight the Trump administration’s cuts to clean energy programs passed under President Joe Biden.
On Wednesday, a similar group of plaintiffs, including states and government energy organizations, filed a separate complaint over the rescission of the individual grant agreements in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
That suit says the EPA violated the individual grant agreements it had with states and state energy authorities when it got its money back.
The lawsuit alleges that the EPA used an “erroneous and bad faith interpretation” of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” passed under the Trump administration, to justify its actions.
The lawsuit acknowledges that the law gave the administration some ability to revoke ADA funds, but says the administration was only allowed to take money that had not already been awarded to grant recipients.
third The lawsuit was filed this month in U.S. District Court in Rhode Island By solar companies, homeowners, nonprofits, and unions, it relies on similar arguments. It claims the EPA’s action would cause nearly 1 million people to lose access to affordable solar energy, and that “hundreds of thousands of good-paying, high-quality jobs would be lost.”