Trump Administration will terminate $7 billion solar energy program

In a Thursday post on X, Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would end a $7 Billion grant program from Biden's era which aimed to increase solar energy in low-income areas.

Zeldin stated in a YouTube video that "EPA does not have the authority to manage the program, or to use the funds appropriated to keep this boondoggle going."

Zeldin said that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by U.S. president Donald Trump in December last year, eliminated funding for the program.

It was widely expected that the "Solar for All' program would be cancelled. Trump has reduced federal support for wind and solar energy since he took office in January. He calls the renewable resources unreliable and expensive.

In 2024, during the tenure of former president Joe Biden, 60 nonprofit groups and tribes were granted grants. The EPA claimed that the program would benefit nearly 1 million homes in most states of the United States, reducing electricity costs and reducing emission.

Michelle Moore, CEO Groundswell's non-profit, said that her organization's grant of $156 million would reduce electricity costs for over 17,000 households in 8 Southern states, by setting up solar project to serve rural communities. She was hopeful that this program could be saved.

Moore stated in an interview that "a tweet is not termination." The last time I checked, affordability and energy affordability in particular, were a priority of this administration. (Reporting and editing by Nichola groom, Chris Reese, Jamie Freed).

(source: Reuters)