Contractors install solar panels on the roof of a house in Oregon. The Oregon Department of Energy was awarded in April an $87 million Solar for All grant to help pay for rooftop and community solar projects benefiting low-income and rural Oregonians. (Courtesy of Oregon Department of Energy)
Among the slew of executive orders President Donald Trump issued on his first day in office was one meant to “unleash American energy” by stopping the disbursements of federal solar and renewable energy grants already awarded to states by Congress.
That was illegal, according to nine Democratic senators on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, including Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, a senior member of the committee. The senators wrote to the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin, on Jan. 31 demanding a full list of climate and infrastructure grants that are now blocked. They were approved under the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act under President Joe Biden. They also asked for a legal justification behind the pause and a timeline for reinstating them “as soon as possible.”
The “Unleashing American Energy” executive order and EPA’s pause on grant disbursements preceded Trump’s Jan. 28 attempt to freeze trillions in federal funding that’s now been blocked by a federal judge.
The senators told Zeldin in the letter that they’d been contacted by state agencies and other grantees who have been denied access to approved congressional funding through grants like the $7 billion Solar for All program. That provides money to states and nonprofits for solar programs serving low-income households and communities.
“Not only are these funding cuts already having devastating effects on communities, with reports of jobs in jeopardy and essential infrastructure projects on the chopping block, but failing to allow grant recipients to access funds that have already been obligated violates federal law,” the senators wrote.
Spokespersons for EPA did not respond to a Capital Chronicle request for comment by Monday evening. Justin Krakoff, a spokesperson for Merkley, said the Democratic senators have not yet received a response from Zeldin.
In Nevada, a clean energy fund created through state legislation has been blocked from accessing a $156 million Solar for All grant it had been awarded in April 2024. The Oregon Department of Energy was also awarded in April an $87 million Solar for All grant to help pay for rooftop and community solar projects benefiting low-income and rural Oregonians. Jennifer Kalez, a spokesperson for the state energy department, said the agency doesn’t have any new information or clarity on the status of their grant yet.
“The Oregon Department of Energy is committed to its mission of maintaining a resilient and affordable energy system in Oregon and we will continue moving forward on implementation plans using federal awards in the meantime,” she said in an email.
In their letter, the senators cited several examples of Zeldin promising to “respect all of Congress’s duly enacted statutes,” and his commitment to “fully following the law” during his confirmation hearing.
“Particularly as a former Member of Congress, I appreciate and respect the Congressional funding process,” Zeldin told the senators at the time.
In their letter, they said Zeldin’s actions diverge from the commitments he made under oath in front of them.
“It appears that in his first days as EPA Administrator, Zeldin is already allowing President Trump to pull the strings at EPA by failing swiftly to address these funding freezes that undermine EPA’s core mission and run contrary to federal law,” the senators wrote.
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