Attorneys general from Colorado, California and 21 other states are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for ending the $7 billion Solar for All program that lowers energy costs and pollution by bringing solar energy to more than 900,000 households across the country, including 20,000 homes in Colorado.
Colorado and 23 other grant recipients also filed suit this week in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to recover damages for EPA’s unlawful breach of the grant agreements that were executed under this program.
Congress created the Solar for All program in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, directing EPA to make competitive grants to states and other entities to deploy solar projects in low-income and disadvantaged areas. EPA selected recipients and awarded all the program funds to the suing states and other grant recipients by August 2024. Colorado and the other plaintiff states moved forward with planning projects and working with stakeholders to develop their solar programs.
“The cancellation of Solar for All funding is not just bad policy, it is illegal,” said California Public Utilities Commission President Alice Reynolds. “These grants were lawfully appropriated by Congress and intended to help lower energy costs and transition to a clean energy supply. Revoking the funding is a destabilizing decision, but we will continue to progress toward clean energy for all Californians, driving economic growth and creating green jobs for a sustainable future.”
The attorneys general say the EPA abruptly and unlawfully terminated the program two months ago and clawed back most of the money already awarded. That has left Colorado and the other states without access to the funds to proceed with their solar programs, after the states spent significant time planning and launching programs and committing state funds. Colorado, for example, was awarded a total of $156,120,000 in funding in April of 2024 and obligated all of it to implement a work plan that included creating 1,000 jobs and delivering clean solar energy to more than 20,000 low-income households. On Aug. 7, 2025, Colorado received a letter from EPA terminating the state’s grant and EPA later liquidated the state’s account for the Solar for All program, leaving an $11 million balance.
“The loss of Solar for All program funds will harm Coloradans, who will not get the benefits of affordable, clean solar energy, including no-cost installations and lower electricity bills. The loss of jobs will strain the solar industry in our state, which is the 12th fastest growing clean energy jobs market in the country. Moreover, these illegal funding cuts will hamper Colorado’s ability to reduce harmful climate pollution,” said Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser. “We are bringing these lawsuits to recover the funds and resume this important program.”
When President Trump took office this past January, he prioritized fossil fuel extraction to address an alleged “energy emergency” while arbitrarily excluding solar power as a resource that can be tapped to meet the country’s energy needs. In July, Congress passed the president’s budget bill HR1, rescinding funds for the Solar for All program that were unobligated as of July 3. The effect of that move was small, given that EPA had obligated all $7 billion for the program nearly a year earlier.
Instead of following that newly passed law, EPA and Zeldin illegally terminated the program on Aug. 7. On social media, Zeldin made baseless accusations, calling Solar for All a “boondoggle.” The agency then sent memos to all recipients, including the plaintiffs, saying EPA no longer has a “statutory basis or dedicated funding” for the program, even though Congress never directed EPA to cancel funds that had already been awarded. In fact, Congress did the opposite by only rescinding unobligated funds for Solar for All.
Attorney General Weiser and a multistate coalition are filing a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleging, among other things, that the EPA violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Separation of Powers Doctrine in unlawfully canceling the program.
Also joining the lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
News item from the Colorado Office of the Attorney General
