Judge Restores $7 Billion Solar Program for 900,000

A federal judge in Rhode Island ruled that the Trump administration unlawfully terminated the $7 billion Solar for All program, which was created under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to expand solar access for more than 900,000 lower-income Americans. Judge Mary McElroy found that Congress intended the Environmental Protection Agency to continue administering grants that had already been obligated, despite the subsequent tax-and-spending law rescinding unobligated funds. She vacated the EPA’s termination of the program, requiring the agency to restore its administration of the existing grants. The EPA is reviewing the ruling and considering an appeal, while labor and environmental groups praised the decision as a potential source of lower energy costs, clean-energy investment and union jobs.