U.S. EPA’s termination of Solar for All means $250 million in lost invesment to Ohio

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to terminate $7 billion in grants for solar projects across the country halts nearly a quarter billion dollars of planned investment in renewable energy across the state of Ohio.

It also means thousands of low-income or disadvantaged households will not be able to realize significant savings on their energy bills.

The Solar for All grant program was a product of the Biden administration. Among the recipients were the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, which was awarded $156 million, and the Industrial Heartland Solar Coalition, slated for the same amount.

Of the Industrial Heartland allocation, which was being administered by Cleveland-based Growth Opportunity Partners for the benefit of eight states, about $90 million was earmarked for residential and community solar projects across five cities – Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton and Akron, said Joe Flarida executive director of advocacy group Power a Clean Future Ohio.

It was initially anticipated that the money would provide solar for up to 12,000 Ohio homes, although the decision by Congress to eliminate renewable tax credits would have cut into that total, Flarida said.

He said he didn’t know how many homes would have been served by the $156 million that was slated for the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority,

Nationwide, the $7 billion in grants were expected to provide solar power to more than 900,000 households, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the cancellation of the Solar for All program on Thursday.

“The bottom line is this: EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive,” Zeldin posted on social media.

“Today, the Trump EPA is announcing that we are ending Solar for All for good, saving US taxpayers ANOTHER $7 BILLION!”

Flarida said the news made for a tough day.

“A lot of people put a lot of work into this,” he said of the Solar for All effort.

The grant money was to be used to install rooftop solar arrays and to make necessary infrastructure improvements, such as roof repair, to accommodate the solar panels. It also would’ve been used for community projects that would serve apartment buildings with multiple customers or multiple single-family homes.

Solar for All had identified 60 grant recipients with the intent to not only reduce climate and air pollution, but to provide energy savings to low-income and disadvantaged communities and to promote further growth of cheap solar power.

Flarida said the EPA’s action will be challenged in court because most if not all the $7 billion had been obligated and was under contract.

“I think everyone is going to try and push back on this,” he said. But even if Solar for all advocates prevail, he said, the program will have been harmed.