Vermont is set to lose nearly $63 million in funding that was supposed to help low-income households access solar energy.
The Environmental Protection Agency issued Vermont a letter Thursday night, announcing that the Biden-era Solar For All program has been canceled through President Trump and Congressional Republican’s major spending law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“Absent successful litigation, this program is dead,” said Commissioner of Public Service Kerrick Johnson Friday.
Vermont was in the midst of standing up programs to roll out the funding and had already allocated $22 million to the Vermont Housing and Finance Agency to support installing solar at affordable housing developments.
Remaining funds were supposed to help more than 1,000 low income households in the state access free or very low cost solar panels, something state regulators have said would lead to lower electric bills.
The roughly $7 billion Solar For All program was billed by the Biden Administration as an environmental justice initiative. Low-income households nationwide spend the biggest share of their incomes on energy. This is especially true in Vermont, and more so in very rural parts of the state.
When reached for comment, EPA’s New England office referred Vermont Public to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s statement on X earlier this week, where he said, “The new law eliminates billions of green slush fund dollars by repealing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, including a 7 billion dollar program called Solar for All.”
It’s not the first time the program has come under attack. Earlier this year, the Trump administration froze, and then re-released, funding for the work as it searched for ways to cut costs from federal programs.
The termination letter says Vermont can expect reimbursement for funds it’s already spent and for work to dismantle programs it’s already stood up. Johnson says it’s too soon to know exactly how much of its award Vermont has already spent.
He says the program’s elimination will directly affect at least a few jobs at the Department of Public Service, but the agency is working to find solutions to keep people employed.
“We just got this notice last night, and we’re exploring what work, if any, could we continue, using solely state resources,” Johnson said.
He says the department is also exploring what options may be available to Vermont to pursue these federal funds and keep the program alive.
“We will defer to the legal opinion, in collaboration with the governor’s team, of the attorney general’s office, and see if we have a claim here,” he said. “It’s just unclear what our options are.”
