Attorney General Bonta Files Motion for Preliminary Injunction to Preserve Solar for All Funding

OAKLAND - California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general and two states in filing a motion for a preliminary injunction to ensure that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) preserves funding for the Solar for All federal grant program while litigation is pending. In August, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the agency would terminate the Solar for All program, asserting the agency no longer had statutory authority to administer the funds. Administrator Zeldin's directive terminated nearly $250 million in funds owed to California, where state agencies were preparing to build out community solar and associated clean energy projects. In October, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition challenged the Trump Administration in a pair of lawsuits over the unlawful termination of this funding. In today's motion, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the coalition asks the District Court to freeze congressionally appropriated Solar for All funds - including both the funds still in the states' accounts and the funds already taken out - so that the Court can restore the program later if the coalition is ultimately successful in their litigation. A preliminary injunction will ensure that the funds are protected from being moved outside of EPA, where they could become unrecoverable.

"Without the District Court's intervention, states including California will experience irreparable harm from the EPA's actions," said Attorney General Bonta. "That's why we, alongside a broad coalition of attorneys general, are filing this motion to protect funding for the Solar for All program-a nationwide program that promises to address climate change, stimulate the economy, and promote energy independence and grid reliability, while also lowering energy costs."

In 2022, Congress appropriated $7 billion to EPA through the Inflation Reduction Act specifically to develop competitive grant programs to expand solar energy access nationwide. EPA designed the Solar for All program to provide financial and technical assistance for the deployment of zero-emission technology, including residential and distributed solar to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in low-income and disadvantaged communities. EPA issued 60 competitive awards in 2024 to states, municipalities, and non-profit organizations, ranging from $43.5 million to almost $250 million per recipient.

In their motion, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition argue that:

• The states are likely to prevail in their claims that the Trump Administration's actions violate the Administrative Procedure Act and congressional mandates.
• The states will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief prohibiting EPA from de-obligating and reprogramming Solar for All funding. In California, state agencies were expecting to receive almost $250 million, including more than $200 million to build out community solar systems, which would enable California residents to obtain 20% monthly discounts on electricity bills in exchange for participating in the Solar for All program-primarily aimed at lower- and middle-income families. The funding also included $9 million for workforce training-enabling more California workers to acquire skills needed to help build a sustainable future.
• The irreparable harms that would flow from EPA's decision to move the Solar for All funds outside of the agency overwhelmingly favor preliminary injunctive relief.

In filing today's motion for a preliminary injunction, Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Washington, Minnesota, the District of Columbia, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Also joining today's filing are the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, as well as the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

A copy of the motion can be found here.