Thursday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced on X plans to eliminate the $7 billion Solar for All program. North Carolina received $156 million through the program to launch EnergizeNC, which it planned to do by the end of the year. The program would fund projects that expand community and residential solar in low-income and disadvantaged communities to lower energy costs. These communities stand to benefit the most from lower monthly energy bills, but high upfront costs put the investment out of reach.
“If leaders in the Trump administration move forward with this unlawful attempt to strip critical funding from communities across the United States, we will see them in court,” said Kym Meyer, litigation director for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “We have already seen the immense good this program has done on the ground and we won’t let it be snatched away to score political points.”
The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality responded that the program would help an estimated 12,000 households, reducing energy bills by 20%. A written statement from the department said that “termination of this program puts economic prosperity and energy security at risk for all North Carolinians.”
