After the Trump administration wants to cancel solar energy programs that allow ordinary people to plug into nearby solar panels, a coalition of more than 20 Democratic states and the District of Columbia has sued the government in two courts over the cancellation of a $7 billion grant program designed to help low-income families install solar panels on their homes. homes.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced two lawsuits filed by a group of states that received grants under the Environmental Protection Agency's Solar for All program.

The two legal complaints accuse the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of illegally canceling the Solar for All program by breaching its contractual obligations to the states.

The states asked the US Court of Federal Claims to overturn the cancellation of the $7 billion that Congress had already obligated in 2022. They also asked a federal court in Washington state to declare the grant freeze unlawful, restore the funding, and reinstate the program.

The program, awarded under the Biden administration under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund aimed at addressing climate change, allocated funds last year to 60 recipients, including states, tribes, regions, and nonprofits.

In August, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the program's cancellation, falsely claiming the agency no longer had the legal authority to administer the funds, the plaintiffs charge.

If upheld, the program's cancellation would threaten the ability of more than 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities across the country to access affordable solar power and, as a result, lower their electric bills.

Blocking the grant would slow progress in clean energy adoption nationwide, especially in underserved communities, the lawsuit alleges.

“The Solar for All Program was created to provide relief to all Americans by reducing working families' energy bills, reducing our carbon footprint, and creating high-quality union jobs that would boost our economy,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is part of the lawsuit,said in a statement.

The attorney general warned that he and other states, most of which are led by Democrats, will fight to stop the Trump administration's “distorted interpretation” of the law.

In addition to California, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia joined the lawsuit, as did the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.