Court reinstates $7B ‘Solar for All’ program axed by Trump

A federal court has rebuffed the Trump administration’s effort to slash a $7 billion program that seeks to provide rooftop solar power in disadvantaged communities.

Judge Mary McElroy, a Trump appointee in Rhode Island, vacated the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) move to terminate the Solar For All (SFA) program and claw back the funding .

The program in question was funded by the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act. The Trump-era One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) rescinded any “unobligated” balances in the program.

McElroy said that under these laws, the EPA did not have the power to rescind funds that were already awarded.

“The OBBBA did not convert SFA funding into a lump-sum amount subject to EPA’s discretion. Instead, Congress’s clear intent was that EPA continue to administer the already obligated SFA grants. Defendants acted contrary to this intent, and with no other statutory authority, when they terminated the SFA program,” she wrote.

The judge therefore declared the program’s termination unlawful and tossed out the EPA’s move to do so.

Her decision represents a blow to the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce government spending and target Biden-era climate programs.

An EPA spokesperson said in an email that it is “reviewing the decision and considering options for appeal.”

Environmental advocates, including those who sued over the decision, lauded the judge’s ruling.

“The court ruled the Trump Administration never should have terminated Solar for All because Congress intended it to continue, and EPA broke the law when it killed the program and pocketed the money,” said Southern Environmental Law Center senior attorney Nick Torrey in a written statement “Electricity bills are skyrocketing, so low-cost solar projects — which guarantee big savings — are needed now more than ever. Today’s victory means EPA must stop sitting on the $7 billion in funding for this program and start getting it out into communities to provide hardworking American families much-needed relief.”