Led by Sanders, Senate Democrats Demand Trump EPA Restore Solar Funding as Energy Prices Soar

Warning that the US Environmental Protection Agency's termination of the Solar for All program this year came at an especially inopportune time, with electricity bills soaring for families across the country, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday led 32 members of the Democratic caucus in demanding that the Trump administration restore the program.

The Solar for All initiative, which was spearheaded by Sanders (I-Vt.), was meant to create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs while allowing low-income households to benefit from renewable energy.

If EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin had not illegally pulled $7 billion that had already been appropriated by Congress, said the lawmakers, Solar for All would have lowered residential electricity bills by at least 20% for nearly 1 million homes and saved working families nearly $9 billion in electric costs.

"Solar for All strongly aligns with the bipartisan goals of facilitating American energy independence and strengthening grid reliability," wrote the senators, who also included Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.). "Your agency’s decision to terminate Solar for All is not only unlawful—given this funding was congressionally appropriated and fully obligated—but also ill-timed."

With electricity bills 6.2% higher than they were at this time last year, said the lawmakers, Solar for All could have saved American families $350 million annually.

It would also have been a step toward reducing fossil fuel emissions at a time when scientists have warned immediate, far-reaching action is needed to avoid the worst impacts of planetary heating and to protect the Earth from damage that has already reached a tipping point, in the case of coral reefs.

"EPA’s reckless decision to terminate Solar for All directly undermines efforts by Congress to reduce energy costs and improve grid resilience," said the senators. "It jeopardizes economic investments and inflicts severe job losses across the country while undermining the trust and financial certainty that communities, businesses, and local governments have placed in the federal government. Further, it disrupts workforce training initiatives, such as those in West Virginia, Alaska, and across the Midwest where solar career pathways and apprenticeship programs are already underway."

"The EPA’s illegal termination of Solar for All has left states, communities, and businesses across the country in limbo, with critical projects stalled and vulnerable households facing higher energy costs," they added.

"EPA’s reckless decision to terminate Solar for All directly undermines efforts by Congress to reduce energy costs and improve grid resilience."

The letter came as at least 23 states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for canceling funding for Solar for All.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told Courthouse News Service that the $156 million awarded to her state through the program would have led to energy savings for households and thousands of new jobs, while the 61 megawatts of clean energy generated from panels would have prevented at least 90,000 tons of CO2 emissions in Arizona annually.

“Families all over the country were counting on energy bill relief that disappeared overnight when the administration unlawfully terminated Solar for All,” Nick Torrey, an attorney with Southern Environmental Law Center who is representing advocacy groups that also filed a lawsuit last week, told Courthouse News.

In their letter, the senators demanded that "the EPA immediately reinstate the Solar for All program, rectify the damage caused by this termination, and ensure grantees can proceed with the swift implementation of residential solar projects to slash utility bills and create many thousands of good jobs."

"In the meantime," they wrote, "we require a full accounting of how the EPA will repair the damage caused by this program’s disruptive termination."