North Carolina and 22 other states Sue Trumps EPA For Cancellation of Funding

North Carolina and 22 other states have filed a joint lawsuit against the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), demanding restoration of the Solar for All program. 

NC Attorney General Jeff Jackson represents North Carolina in joining the lawsuit, which seeks restoration of more than $7 billion nationwide (including over $150 million due to North Carolina), to help low-income and rural communities use solar power to save on energy costs. 

Lowering Energy Costs for North Carolinians

“These funds were going to help low-income and rural North Carolinians save money on their energy bills,” said Attorney General Jackson. “Thousands of families were going to have the option to install solar power, save money, and have another energy option after a major storm. Now the EPA has illegally cancelled those funds – so I’m going to court to bring $150 million back to our state.”  

“The U.S. EPA’s cancellation of North Carolina’s $150 million Solar for All program would eliminate the installation of rooftop solar panels for more than 12,000 low- and medium-income families,” said Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Secretary Reid Wilson. “Rooftop solar drives down utility bills, reduces air pollution and creates jobs. The program’s cancellation would hurt the electric grid’s ability to be resilient to future disasters, and would hamper North Carolina’s efforts to ensure reliable, clean and affordable energy supplies to meet the needs of a rapidly growing population and rising energy demand.” 

Cancellation of Affordable, Solar Energy

DEQ led the EnergizeNC coalition, which received the $156 million Solar for All grant in North Carolina. In its October 16 news release, the NC Dept. of Justice pointed out that “those funds would have helped create at least 43 megawatts of solar energy and offered financial assistance to help low-income, single-family homes, multifamily housing, households with medical needs, and community solar pilot programs install rooftop solar. Without Solar for All funding, these households cannot afford to install rooftop solar and save on their electricity bills.”   

The statement continued, “Those funds would also have helped households transition to more reliable sources of energy and prevent power outages caused by natural disasters, like Hurricane Helene. When Helene hit, nearly 1.2 million Duke Energy customers lost power in North Carolina, some for weeks. Households with solar panels can store energy for use later and generate energy when the grid is down, which means solar-powered households still have energy and electricity during power grid blackouts.”

Unlawful Cancellation of Solar for All Funds

The multi-state lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. It asserts that the EPA violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Separation of Powers Doctrine in unlawfully canceling the program. The same 23 states also filed a second lawsuit in the United States Court of Federal Claims, arguing that EPA breached the clear terms of the agreements and violated the duty of good faith and fair dealing in canceling their Solar for All grants.  

“The administration is again targeting people struggling to get by in America, this time by gutting programs that help low-income households afford electricity,” Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown said. “Congress passed a solar energy program to help make electricity costs more affordable, but the administration is ignoring the law and focused on the conspiracy theory that climate change is a hoax.” 

Last week, we reported that a coalition of private plaintiffs from several states filed a lawsuit in federal District Court in Rhode Island, challenging the Trump Administration’s illegal termination of the Solar for All program. The Trump Administration had announced in August that it was terminating the Solar for All program and rescinding the $7 billion in grants already awarded, including $156 million awarded to a consortium of four sponsor agencies in North Carolina. 

Kudos to all those carrying forward the fight to save access to clean, low-cost solar energy for lower-income American households.