EPA cancels Solar for All funding. What does that mean for work underway in NC?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- EPA canceled Solar for All, halting $156M in NC low-income solar projects.
- State agencies and partners had started planning installations and vetting work.
- Congressional Democrats and states may challenge cancellation in legal action.
North Carolina has put the brakes on a federally funded effort to give low-income residents access to solar power since President Donald Trump’s EPA head announced the program has been canceled.
It’s not clear whether the state and others will have to pay back money already spent on the Solar for All program.
Lee Zeldin, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, called the nationwide program a “boondoggle” in a social media post on Aug. 7 and said it was being eliminated as part of the “Big Beautiful Bill” passed by congressional Republicans in July.
Solar for All came out of the Biden administration’s “Investing in America” agenda. It was funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, which created EPA’s $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
In April 2024, Biden’s EPA announced $7 billion of that would be given in Solar for All grants to states, territories, tribal governments, municipalities and nonprofits across the country. North Carolina applied for $250 million in grants and in 2024 received more than $156 million to be used over five years. Here, the program is administered by the state Department of Environmental Quality, which calls its version EnergizeNC.
A coalition including the NC Clean Energy Technology Center at N.C. State University, the NC Clean Energy Fund, and Advanced Energy has been working with DEQ to determine how best to use the money.
Would Solar for All save money, or waste it?
Supporters of the Solar for All program say it would help 900,000 low-income households across the country, including an estimated 12,000 in some of North Carolina’s poorest counties, get access to solar power. That would be through a combination of rooftop solar panels for individual homes and larger installations for multi-family housing.
While North Carolina has among the largest solar-power production capacities of any state in the country according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, up-front costs for rooftop home installations of up to $20,000 are a barrier for many households. Grant money from Solar for All could help low-income families install solar that could result in significant savings on monthly power bills over time, said Jen Weiss, co-director of the N.C. Clean Energy Fund.
“These projects are designed to help reduce energy costs for some households that really need the help. Some of these families are paying $600 a month in energy bills,” Weiss said. “There is a large energy burden on some of our households that will only become more difficult to bear as energy costs continue to rise. If this program does go away, there will be a reduction in benefits to those households.”
Steve Kalland, executive director of the N.C. Clean Energy Technology Center, said this week North Carolina also planned to use Solar for All funds to pilot a program that would provide solar power and battery backup to families who have essential electrical medical devices that can shut down during a power outage such as those caused by ice storms and hurricanes.
Promoters of EnergizeNC also said the program could bring good jobs to the state in the manufacture and installation of solar equipment.
But Zeldin has criticized Solar for All for using “pass-through” organizations that each take a cut of the grant funds. Responses to Zeldin’s post about the program include comments that solar power is unreliable and expensive and that climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels is a hoax.
Scientists agree that the Earth is warming. Those in the mainstream say it’s largely because of humans’ use of fossil fuels, which emit gases when burned that accumulate in the atmosphere and trap heat around the planet. Skeptics aren’t convinced that human activity is the main cause of global warming.
Is the EPA’s decision on Solar for All final?
Four North Carolina Democrats in Congress have condemned the EPA’s decision to cancel the program and wrote to Zeldin asking him to reinstate the funding. U.S. Reps. Deborah Ross, Alma Adams, Valerie Foushee and Don Davis wrote, “At a time when energy costs and demand are both rapidly increasing, it is concerning that your agency is considering an action that may violate federal law — Congress has already appropriated the funding — and would increase household energy costs for millions of Americans while jeopardizing thousands of jobs across a wide cross section of states.”
A spokesman for N.C. DEQ said the department is reviewing a letter from the EPA on the termination of the program.
Some states have said they are considering suing the Trump administration over the cancellation of Solar for All because the grant money already had been appropriated by Congress and some of it has been obligated through contracts. As of Tuesday, no lawsuits had been reported.
In North Carolina, Kallend and Weiss said, preliminary work was underway with plans to kick off some projects this fall.
Weiss and Kallend said the coalition has so far:
- Begun development of a system to vet contractors to protect taxpayers and property owners from potential scams;
- Begun identifying single- and multi-family projects where solar power could be developed. One possible option, Weiss said, is to work with families whose homes have been weatherized through assistance programs to improve efficiency and reduce energy costs;
- Begun to look for large-scale solar development opportunities that would benefit groups of residents whose homes are not suitable for individual rooftop installations.
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com.
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This story was originally published August 13, 2025 at 9:51 AM with the headline "EPA cancels Solar for All funding. What does that mean for work underway in NC?."
