The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reportedly unfrozen funds under its US$7 billion Solar For All Programme following a review of the department’s spending.
The announcement comes amid a storm of cuts to US government spending and budgets under the new Republican administration. Last month the EPA head, Lee Zeldin, called for the recall of up to US$20 billion in clean technology grants issued by the department and an executive order from president Donald Trump paused the disbursement of many funds issued under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
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The Solar For All programme is part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF), which is itself part of the US$369 billion IRA. The EPA has reported unfrozen all of its funding from the GGRF and the IRA.
Last week the EPA wrote: “EPA worked expeditiously to enable payment accounts for [Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act] and IRA grant recipients, so funding is now accessible to all recipients,” as first reported by US climate investigative media platform Floodlight.
Solar For All is designed to increase access to solar PV projects for low-income and marginalised communities by disbursing funds directly to state energy authorities, tribal governments and eligible non-profits. It has identified 60 grant recipients across the US.
When Trump initially froze Solar For All funds, the director of the US environmental campaign group Climate Action Campaign said: “Donald Trump has a long history of violating his contractual obligations going back to his earliest days as a developer. Then, like now, it’s hard-working people and small businesses most often left holding the bag. The Solar For All funds the EPA is now withholding are specifically designed to bring down energy costs for low-income and disadvantaged communities.”
