$156M solar power grant for Washington in limbo after Trump order

Washington state was awarded a $156 million federal grant for new programs to install rooftop solar on thousands of homes and apartment buildings. (Photo by Gustavo Fring)

Washington was locked out of about $150 million in federal funding for solar projects focused on low-income communities last week as the Trump administration paused clean energy grants.

Last April, the federal Environmental Protection Agency awarded $7 billion to 60 recipients, including $156 million for the Washington state Department of Commerce. The money under the Solar for All program was expected to help over 900,000 homes in low-income communities nationwide access solar power.

In his termination of the “Green New Deal,” President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, ordered federal agencies to pause disbursements under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which included the Solar for All program.

Commerce lost access to the solar money on Thursday, an agency spokesperson said. The situation has unfolded in tandem with an attempt by the White House budget office to freeze a wide array of federal spending, a move that’s now tied up in court.

On Friday, a group of Democratic U.S. senators sent a letter to the new head of the EPA urging him to lift the pause on Solar for All funding.

But on Monday, Washington still didn’t have access to the EPA’s online grant management portal where the Solar for All dollars are distributed. Other recipients also reported losing access last week.

“As you can imagine, this is a fluid situation and we continue to monitor daily and work to access the awarded funds,” Commerce spokesperson Penny Thomas said. “Until we hear differently, it is still frozen.”

The EPA forwarded a request for comment to the Department of Justice, which declined to comment.

Washington Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, who was not among the senators who signed the Friday letter, said she was pressing for answers about why the money had been held up.

“It’s unacceptable that the Trump administration thinks they can illegally, unilaterally withhold billions in critical funds,” she said in a statement.

Commerce had pulled $110,000 from the Solar for All account last week before the federal government paused the funding. That’s the only money the state had gotten of the $156 million total, said Thomas.

Commerce had initially requested $250 million from the EPA, the maximum the state could ask for. That money would have served 10,000 households.

The state has several plans for the $156 million the feds ended up granting. That includes free solar panel installation for qualifying homeowners, a major new community solar program for renters and no-interest loans for energy efficiency upgrades and roof repairs at affordable housing complexes that commit to installing solar.

The state also planned to partner with tribes on residential solar projects.

The Solar for All money is a big chunk of about $450 million awarded to Commerce’s energy division through the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. On Monday, the agency was assessing which accounts it still had access to.

In October, the Department of Commerce said 90% of the $156 million would be available for direct financial assistance that would serve an estimated 5,000 households in Washington. The agency was using this year to plan the program before launching in January 2026.

Former Gov. Jay Inslee had also pledged $100 million from the state’s cap-and-trade auctions for solar power. He called the federal money a “game changer.”

“We are leading on solar energy in Washington state, and I want to thank the federal government for joining in our efforts to continue that expansion,” Inslee said at an event announcing the federal grant last year.

Mike Fong, then the Commerce director, said at the time the money “in one fell swoop is more than doubling our resources available for solar energy installations.”

Sierra Club Executive Director Ben Jealous said in a statement that halting funding “will jeopardize the monumental renewable energy opportunities being brought to cities and towns across the nation.”

The Inflation Reduction Act called for large federal investments into a range of clean energy and climate-related programs, including the solar power grants. Former President Joe Biden signed the law in 2022.

– By Jake Goldstein-Street, Washington State Standard

Washington State Standard is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Washington State Standard maintains editorial independence.

  1. I don’t know just how much discretion the president has but to me we are 35 trillion in debt and cutting unnecessary spending seems like a good idea. Don’t worry people can still put up solar they just won’t get it at a discount on the backs of taxpayers.

  2. Where is the Republican indignation about the sanctity of the constitution? The constitution clearly gives the power of the purse to Congress and Congress appropriated these monies for a very specific purpose. Only Congress can rescind an appropriation that it has previously approved. After Nixon attempted this on a much smaller scale, Congress passed the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to explicitly restrict the president’s ability to rescind funds appropriated by Congress. So these actions are not merely unconstitutional but also illegal.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congressional_Budget_and_Impoundment_Control_Act_of_1974

  3. The unilateral cancelling of tremendous infrastructure spending is appalling by this current president. This is just one example… so hold on folks if you think his future arbitrary cancellations won’t affect you.

  4. The money appropriated is spent over years Congress can certainly chose to cancel funding or relocate it which I am sure they are working on now I do believe Trump has some discretion at the very least he can slow roll the payouts until Congress acts the good news is everything is being tied up in the courts the bad news is everything is being tied up in the courts. I guess it is all about your perspective as to whether these actions are good or bad. I for one applaud the efforts government is to big and wasteful it is about time someone is trying to get a handle on it.

  5. What is appalling is the Inflation Reduction Act that was anything but. As a taxpayer, I welcome the scrutiny being given to these government programs that are lavishly funded with taxpayer dollars. Our staggering debt is indicative of runaway spending – just look at the $42B budget of USAID and what that money has been spent on. Congress may have appropriated these monies, but can we the taxpayer really afford it? We are long overdue for a close look at government spending and perhaps a reassessment of our spending priorities. The sky is not falling and the Constitution is still intact.

  6. It’s ultimately the Supreme Courts job to interpret what is Constitutional and what isn’t and they are under no obligation to just go along with whatever Trump says in executive orders because they are appointed for life and he cannot fire them. If the Supreme Court says something Trump has ordered is illegal but no one does anything to stop him from implementing a declared illegal order; then we are no longer a nation of laws; we are a Dictatorship. Since Republicans are in the majority in both the House and the Senate, now only Republicans and like minded Democrats can prevent Trump from being a Dictator which he has stated he wants to be. The country just voted for easy and simplistic answers with one man rule on everything. Wish us luck, we will need it.

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