CALIFORNIA IS SUING the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Donald Trump for rolling back federal grants that would have gone toward building infrastructure for solar power energy in low-income areas. 

In 2022, Congress designated $7 billion to the EPA for promoting greenhouse gas reductions in disadvantaged communities. EPA created the “Solar for All Program” to distribute the funds nationwide, and California received $250 million.

However, the EPA in August announced that it would be cancelling the Solar for All Program. Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the EPA, said in a post to X that Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” eliminated the program. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, in an announcement Thursday, said that clawing back the funds already granted for the Solar for All Program is unlawful since the Big Beautiful Bill states that only unobligated funds were taken away. 

“The EPA had no legal right to terminate this congressionally approved program or rescind funds that have already been obligated to the states,” Bonta said in a virtual briefing. 

California has joined two separate lawsuits, one filed in the Court of Federal Claims and one in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Washington. 

“With these lawsuits, we’re asking the Court of Federal Claims to rule that the Trump EPA breached its contract with California and award us and the other states money damages,” Bonta said. “We’re also asking the District Court to declare that the Trump EPA termination of the Solar for All Program is unlawful, and to require EPA to reinstate the Solar for All Program.”

Rolling back the $250 million, Bonta said, will cost Californians more money since the California Public Utilities Commission will no longer be able to construct the more than 600 renewable energy facilities it had planned on that would have provided lower-cost solar energy.

Utilities in the Bay Area, including the Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the East Bay Municipal Utility District and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, would have been able to offer discounted rates for low- and middle-income families using solar energy.

“This includes community solar projects, multi-family rooftop solar, or single-family rooftop solar,” Bonta said. “These community solar systems could be installed on warehouse roofs or in parking lots and nearby neighbors would be able to tap into the energy generated and get discounted rates in return.” 

Alise is a general assignment reporter with a focus on covering government, elections, housing, crime, courts and entertainment in San Francisco and on the Peninsula. Alise is a Bay Area native from San Carlos. She studied history at University of California, Santa Cruz and first started journalism at Skyline College’s school newspaper in San Bruno. She has interned for Bay City News and for Eesti Rahvusringhääling, or Estonian Public Broadcasting. She has covered everything from the removal of former San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus to the divisive battle over the Great Highway on San Francisco’s west side. Please send her any tips.