Oregon Sues EPA After Solar Program Promising Cheaper Power Gets Axed

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield joined 22 other states in a lawsuit filed yesterday to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after the agency clawed back $7 billion in a solar program that lowered energy costs for Oregon families.

2 Oregon Lawsuits To Challenge EPA Solar Program Grants

The $7 billion Solar For All program, created by Congress in 2022 under the Inflation Reduction Act, lowers energy costs and pollution by bringing solar energy to over 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities across the country.

AG Rayfield said, “This funding wasn’t just about protecting the environment; it was about lowering bills, creating jobs, and helping communities transition to cleaner, more affordable power.”

EPA was obliged to allocate program grants to states and other entities for solar projects by August 2024. Oregon and the other states in the lawsuit had planned projects.

They worked with stakeholders to develop their solar programs before the EPA clawed back the vast majority of the money already awarded two months ago.

President Trump prioritized fossil fuel extraction to address an alleged “energy emergency” when he took office in January, arbitrarily excluding solar power as a resource to meet the country’s energy needs. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed by Congress in July, rescinded unobligated funds for the Solar for All program as of July 3.

Although the bill’s effect was minimal because the EPA had allocated all $7 billion for the program nearly a year earlier, EPA and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin illegally terminated the program on August 7 and made baseless accusations on social media, calling Solar for All a “boondoggle.”

Zedin sent memos to all recipients stating that the EPA no longer has a “statutory basis or dedicated funding” for the program.

This is despite Congress never directing the EPA to cancel funds that had already been awarded, leaving the states without access to the funds needed to proceed with their solar programs.

For example, the Oregon Department of Energy can’t move forward on several projects it planned to use federal EPA funding for, which would help Oregonians save over $83 million on energy costs.

AG Rayfield and 22 other plaintiffs sued the EPA and Zeldin in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, seeking to recover damages for the EPA’s illegal termination of the program, which they alleged was an unlawful breach of the grant agreements.

The plaintiffs allege, 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.

In a second lawsuit filed on Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the states and other entities argue that the EPA breached the clear terms of the agreements and violated the duty of good faith and fair dealing by canceling their Solar for All grants. They ask the court to award the plaintiffs money damages, interest, and fees.