Dive Brief:
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A U.S. District Court judge for the District of Columbia on Tuesday ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency illegally terminated the $7 billion Solar for All program in a lawsuit brought by Harris County, Texas, last October.
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The decision comes less than a week after the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island on Friday ruled the EPA’s termination of the Solar for All program was procedurally unlawful in a lawsuit filed on behalf of downstream beneficiaries of Solar for All grants.
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The EPA is reviewing both decisions and considering options for appeal, it said in emails to Smart Cities Dive. A third lawsuit contending the grant cancellation was illegal, filed by 22 states and the District of Columbia in U.S. District Court in the Western District of Washington last October, was dismissed in January.
Dive Insight:
The Texas Solar for All Coalition was awarded nearly $250 million in 2024 to expand solar access across the state as part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund established by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Harris County — the state’s largest county and home to Houston — led the coalition and secured more than $54 million.
The EPA eliminated the program in August 2025, citing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but the lawsuit states “the OBBBA provides no authority for EPA’s Elimination Decision.”
District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in her Sept. 22 ruling that EPA’s decision to eliminate the Solar for All program without congressional authorization was "arbitrary and capricious, contrary to law, and in excess of statutory authority.”
That decision applies to the EPA’s cancellation of all Solar for All grants, not just Harris County’s, Chutkan ruled. “What the court sets aside is the agency’s policy-level determination that OBBA rendered continued operation of SFA legally impermissible — [which is] applicable to the program as a whole,” she wrote.
The EPA’s termination of Harris County’s Solar for All grant and the resulting legal fight have set the county back in building clean energy initiatives to help low-income households save on energy costs, create jobs and establish solar-powered community hubs for the county to use in the event of power outages and state grid failures, according to a Harris County news release.
“This is a really important victory for energy resilience in Harris County,” Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a statement Wednesday. “The fight continues but this is a big step to getting our funding back.”
Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin said in a statement Wednesday that “I will continue to stand up against improper federal agency actions that are not only illegal, but also harm our communities.”
