daily · energy-economics

Judge restores $7 billion Solar for All program, says EPA ended it illegally

A federal court in Rhode Island vacated EPA's termination of the program, ruling the agency had no authority to cancel grants it had already obligated.

By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published September 24, 2026 · Updated 9/24/2026

A federal judge on Sept. 18 vacated the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to end its $7 billion Solar for All program, ruling that the agency illegally terminated grant funding it had already obligated, Utility Dive reported.

"When an agency acts outside the bounds of its statutory authority, it violates the [Administrative Procedure Act]," wrote Judge Mary McElroy of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.

McElroy rejected the government's argument that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed July 4, 2025, turned Solar for All funding into "a lump-sum amount subject to EPA's discretion." Congress's clear intent, she wrote, was for EPA to keep administering the grants it had already obligated.

Solar for All was part of the nearly $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund created by the Inflation Reduction Act. According to the court decision, EPA obligated the program's funding by a September 2024 deadline, and the money was to be available for five years.

The Conservation Law Foundation, the Southern Environmental Law Center, Lawyers for Good Government and the Lawyers Committee for Rhode Island brought the lawsuit on behalf of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, the Rhode Island Center for Justice, Solar United Neighbors and others.

Official source: Utility Dive ↗