Terminating this federal solar program isn’t just harmful, it’s illegal
When Alicia Brown took the podium in a Southwest Atlanta conference room, it was a full circle moment. She was leading the launch of a transformative residential solar program that many thought was unthinkable just a couple years ago. The first phase included free rooftop solar for nearly 900 households struggling to pay skyrocketing energy bills.
It is a program for all Georgians.
Alicia Brown, Resident
Leaders across the state touted this innovative program — known as Georgia BRIGHT Communities Coalition — as a game changer for families with limited incomes, but it didn’t end there. The program would also be a boom for economic development and bring more energy to a state scrambling to meet the needs of energy-hungry data centers. Nearly 800 households applied for the program hours after the launch.
“This isn’t just a program for big cities or people in the know,” Brown said at the August 4 launch event. “It is a program for all Georgians.”
But 24 hours later, word spread that the Trump administration planned to terminate the Georgia BRIGHT program, and dozens like it across the country.
“Having to tell more than 800 families that the program was being terminated just days after it had launched was devastating,” Brown said. “So many of the people we heard from had allowed themselves to hope for a lifeline, to hope that we could actually deliver direct and meaningful relief, and we had to dash those hopes. We must do everything in our power to restore this program and deliver for the people of Georgia as promised.”
Solar for All
On Earth Day, April 22, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it was awarding nearly $7 billion in grants across the U.S. to kickstart homegrown solar manufacturing and installation jobs, put energy on the grid, and provide much needed bill relief for more than 900,000 households across the nation. Solar for All continues to receive broad and bipartisan support.
Solar for All programs guarantee 20 percent savings on electricity bills for participating households. More than $9 million came to SELC’s six-state region alone, including $156 million for Georgia BRIGHT.
The only reason EPA is trying to stop this program is because this federal administration is determined to make solar a dirty word.
Jennifer Whitfield, Senior Attorney
Here in the South, that bill relief is a lifeline. At least 28 million households around the country face a high or severe energy burden, meaning a big percentage of their income goes toward their power bill. Our region faces some of the highest energy burden in the country.
Now the Trump administration’s EPA has attempted to terminate the program.
“Solar for All programs across the country have already signed contracts with small businesses to do the installs and received applications from families whose quality of life would be transformed by this program,” said Jennifer Whitfield, a senior attorney in SELC’s Atlanta office. “This EPA is pulling the rug from under families and businesses it made commitments to across the country. It’s not just harmful, it’s illegal.”
The sudden loss of Solar for All funding has impacted organizations and businesses across the country who are now facing the threat of canceled projects and layoffs while they search for alternative funding.
Solar For All grant recipients
A blow to small businesses, local economies
For years, Whitfield has worked alongside the team behind Georgia BRIGHT, watching the program transform from pipe dream to pilot, then a blueprint for more equitable energy in her home state.
“When I first got involved with the program I was, frankly, concerned because it sounded too good to be true,” Whitfield said. “It was emotional when I saw panels go onto one of the first pilot houses. When Georgia BRIGHT earned our state’s Solar for All grant, I was over the moon.”
From the expert.
SELC Senior Attorney Jennifer Whitfield on the Georgia BRIGHT pilot project and energy burden in the South.
Now Whitfield is supporting the project in a way she never imagined — fighting to keep it alive.
“The only reason EPA is trying to stop this program is because this federal administration is determined to make solar a dirty word — no matter the cost,” Whitfield said. “What it’s doing is hurting small businesses, local economies, and families across the country.”