Texas solar program left in limbo after Trump administration pulls the plug on $250 million grant

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WASHINGTON — Last month, Melvin White’s first cohort of future solar technicians was ready to begin training.

White’s Port Arthur-based company was among the participants in Texas’ Solar for All program, a federally funded initiative to deploy solar energy in homes across Texas and build out a workforce to install the technology in low- and moderate-income communities. The Environmental Protection Agency awarded nearly $250 million last year to a coalition of local governments and nonprofits, led by Harris County, to fund Texas’ share of the Biden-era clean energy program.

White’s company, a workforce development organization which helps train and place skilled laborers, selected 25 people to teach on solar installation and ultimately be placed in an apprenticeship. He had purchased some necessary lab equipment and was set to begin training when, on Aug. 7, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that he was ending all existing Solar for All contracts in order to recoup the federal government’s investment and cut what the Trump administration sees as wasteful spending.

“The bottom line is this: EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive,″ Zeldin wrote on X. “Today, the Trump EPA is announcing that we are ending Solar for All for good, saving US taxpayers ANOTHER $7 BILLION!”

White and others were left scrambling.

Workforce development organizations that had already begun training are trying to rebuild trust in their communities after having to cancel programs. Groups that were providing technical assistance are trying to recoup their losses. And everyone agrees that while coalition members can try to find private funding to preserve some components of Solar for All, there’s no replacing the $250 million or the direct assistance to low-income households.

“We're trying now to redirect and seeing how we can salvage the people that we've recruited to be in this program — cost-wise for operations, as well as [with] our credibility in the community,” White said. “[We told] people we have a program we're going to start, and all of a sudden we're not able to start it.”

The funding was already doled out by the Biden administration, leading many Democrats and coalition members to say the move is illegal. Eight Texas Democrats in Congress, led by Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, sent a letter to Zeldin calling for the funds to be reinstated.

Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee, whose office was the lead applicant on the Solar for All grant, said he is exploring legal avenues to restore the grant money, but that he wants to be thoughtful in his approach and cognizant of the differing political realities faced by other members of the coalition.

“One of the challenges here is to what extent are folks willing to publicly be in opposition to President Trump,” he said. “I certainly am willing to do so, but not all of our partners are in the same position that I am. So we’re just trying to get everybody in line, get all of our ducks in a row, and to really do a deep dive of the issues to make sure that if we bring a lawsuit, that we're best positioned for success.”

The broader Solar for All coalition, which had planned to operate in 10 municipalities around the state, has been left reeling from the cancellation of a program created specifically to reduce household energy bills. Left in limbo are programs to provide rooftop solar on low-income single-family homes in Waco, bring community solar to Brownsville, install battery storage in Houston to serve neighborhoods during power outages and train solar technicians in Dallas.

Without the support of the federal government and with no money coming from the state to replace it, the coalition’s effort to deliver solar energy to low-income households and build greater grid resiliency will have to shrink considerably.

“We're not going to give up by any means,” said Sam Silerio, the Texas Program Director at Solar United Neighbors, which was working on grant implementation, and a solar contractor himself in El Paso. “But as we look to pivot, it's not the same…the scale and the scope of Solar for All was massive, and unlike anything we'd ever seen before. Losing it is a huge loss.”

What is Solar for All?

Created by congressional Democrats and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden in 2022, the Solar for All program was intended to lower energy bills and create jobs through new residential solar and battery storage installations.

Menefee, a Democrat who is running for Congress in the open 18th District, said Solar for All was among the largest clean energy partnerships in the history of the state and would have addressed three key issues — high costs, job growth and resiliency.

“This is exactly what you want to see in a program,” he said. “It's going to help people with affordability. It's going to increase the number of jobs. It's going to strengthen our grid when we know that ERCOT has had issues over the last few years. And it's a coalition of folks across the political spectrum who are working together to bring it in.”

Low-income households — with eligibility determined by geographic area — could qualify for financial assistance from the program to install solar panels and batteries in their home or conduct home energy efficiency upgrades. As a condition of the program, the installation of solar energy would need to save households, for rooftop solar, or communities, for community solar, at least 20% on their monthly energy bills.

Coalition leaders said Solar for All was going to benefit 28,000 households across the state, with an average annual savings of $468.

Some municipalities had already selected households; others were in the process of doing so or had settled on a number of households they planned to service.

Margo Weisz, the executive director of the Texas Energy Poverty Research Institute, said that one-third of low-income households in Texas either turn off their air conditioning or keep it at uncomfortable levels because their energy bills are prohibitively expensive, according to her organization’s annual survey.

Her institute was managing Solar for All community and rooftop solar programs in Brownsville, Laredo and El Paso — all border communities where their survey found that energy costs are most prohibitive.

“We're really looking at a huge energy affordability problem for people,” Weisz said. “With Solar for All, the intent was really to try to address the affordability needs of Americans who struggle most.”

Beyond direct installations and cost savings, Solar for All had a workforce development component that companies like White’s were taking part in. While household installations had not yet begun, training Texans on solar technology had. In Houston, Port Arthur and Waco, programs to certify Texans in solar installation and as solar ambassadors — who could help explain the installation process to participating households — were already underway.

The Houston Area Urban League, for example, had received a grant to put on solar technology training classes and offer job placement services for the next five years. That group had already completed a three-week course for 18 people, and had selected 15 people for the second cohort when its funding was pulled.

And with the need for energy resiliency demonstrated by recent hurricanes in the Gulf Coast and 2021 Winter Storm Uri, Solar for All also provided funds for resilience hubs — community centers or homes outfitted with solar and battery technology at no cost to the participant to serve as a gathering place in the event of power outages.

The coalition had begun by selecting 30 homes and a resilience center site in Harris County to serve as those hubs. Because the resilience hubs rely on battery storage — an expensive technology — the coalition’s capacity to try to move forward with that element of the project is particularly endangered.

Because Solar for All-funded infrastructure projects had to adhere to regulations requiring materials to be domestically sourced, coalition members also believed that the program could have economic impacts beyond its operational life.

“Eventually, we would have spurred a Texas economy for manufacturing these solar parts, and the jobs associated with that and the ones [created] to install solar,” said Margaret Cook, the vice president of water and community resilience at coalition member Houston Advanced Research Center. “We were expecting to have a good amount of impact on jobs in Texas with this program, and then also [provide] contracting opportunities for local businesses.”

Workforce development groups and solar contractors believe solar energy is still an attractive proposition in Texas and that their work will continue, albeit at a smaller scale. But for the local governments expecting millions in investment, the future is murky.

“It’s like being uninvited to the dance you’re looking for,” said Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia, a solar energy proponent who represents east Houston. “You go buy a new suit, get your haircut, shine your shoes, and then you’ve got no dance to go to.”

Disclosure: Houston Advanced Research Center has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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