A Texas county is suing EPA over the agency’s cancellation of nearly $250 million in solar energy grants.
The lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia argues that EPA broke the law when it terminated its $7 billion “Solar for All” program created under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act to help low-income communities access clean, affordable energy.
Harris County, which encompasses Houston, had received a $249.7 million award — one of the largest in the nation — that was intended to fund local solar projects designed to lower utility bills for Texas families, reduce pollution from energy use and improve grid reliability.
In canceling the Solar for All program, EPA referred to language in Congress’ repeal of a section of the Clean Air Act that established the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, saying the change prevented the agency from administering funds and eliminated the program’s underlying appropriation. An agency spokesperson declined to comment, saying EPA does not comment on current or pending litigation.
Harris County argued that only unobligated funds were repealed, not funds already obligated to them by Congress.
County Commissioner Lesley Briones called the Trump administration’s funding cancellation “highly irresponsible” following an uptick in extreme weather events like deadly hurricanes and winter freezes that have knocked out power in Texas for days.
“We’re the energy capital of the world, but we can’t keep our lights on,” Briones said.
She added: “We need to be not only dominating in the traditional energy sense, which we have done for decades, but we need to be the global leader in energy transition.”
Harris County’s lawsuit adds to a growing wave of litigation over EPA’s decision to scrap the Solar for All program. Earlier this month, environmental groups and labor unions raised similar claims against the Trump administration in federal court in Rhode Island.
