Vermont Account Drained of $57 Million When the EPA Abruptly Suspended the State’s Funds
Vermont Business Magazine Attorney General Charity Clark joined a coalition of 20 state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for unlawfully cancelling $7 billion in federal grants awarded to the states through the Solar for All program. The complaint, filed late yesterday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, argues that the termination of the grants breached the grant terms and violated the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
“Vermont has an agreement with the EPA for this money, and the Trump Administration cannot go back on this deal,” said Attorney General Charity Clark. “We’re fighting for Vermont’s values of protecting our environment and taking care of our neighbors. That includes preserving the tens of millions of dollars in federal funding awarded to create hundreds of new jobs in renewable energy and ensure that all Vermonters are able benefit from our abundant natural resources. I want to thank Senator Sanders for his tremendous leadership in Congress on this issue.”
The Solar for All program, created by Senator Sanders, passed by Congress, and signed into law in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, authorized and appropriated $7 billion to the EPA for a competitive grant program to help low-income households and communities gain access to affordable solar energy. The program was intended to lower energy costs, create jobs, advance environmental justice, and address the climate crisis.
Grantees would provide subsidies and other financial assistance to fund residential rooftop solar for low-income households and residential-serving community solar projects located in disadvantaged communities, in addition to project-deployment assistance such as workforce development, community outreach, and other support to help overcome barriers to solar deployment.
Vermont was awarded – and received – over $62 million in 2024 under the Solar for All program. The Department of Public Service’s planned uses for the funding included a residential single-family homeowner program, a multi-family affordable housing program, and a managed affordable solar housing program. Vermont expected to serve approximately 8,300 low-income households using Solar for All funds and anticipated reducing electric bills by at least 20%.
On August 7, 2025, the EPA first announced its intent to terminate the Solar for All program through an X post from EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, which incorrectly stated that “EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds.”
Later that day, Vermont received a letter from the EPA terminating Vermont’s Solar for All grant. Prior to the termination notice, Vermont’s account contained nearly $62 million of Vermont’s Solar for All award, but by August 13, 2025, the EPA had suspended Vermont’s account, and by September 19, 2025, the account status was changed to “liquidated” – with more than 90% of the account’s funds drained.
“I introduced the Solar for All program to slash electric bills for working families by up to 80% — putting money back in the pockets of ordinary Americans, not fossil fuel billionaires,” said Senator Sanders, the architect of the Solar for All program. “Donald Trump wants to illegally kill this program to protect the obscene profits of his friends in the oil and gas industry. That is outrageous. We must fight back to preserve this enormously important program, and I am glad Vermont Attorney General Clark is joining with other state attorneys general to do exactly that.”
The loss of Solar for All funding will impede efforts to create more affordable housing, will lead to higher electric bills and the loss of as many as 300 new green jobs in Vermont, and will lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions. The State will also lose thousands of hours of time spent pursuing what should have been an enormously impactful investment of millions of dollars to benefit Vermonters.
The complaint, filed Wednesday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, argues that the individual grant terminations violated the terms of the grant agreements and amounted to bad faith conduct.
Joining Attorney General Clark in filing today’s lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington, as well as the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
The complaint filed Wednesday is available on AG's website. The Attorney General thanked the Department of Public Service for joining her efforts in fighting to restore this critical funding.
The coalition also filed a lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleging, among other things, that the EPA violated the Administrative Procedures Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Separation of Powers Doctrine in unlawfully cancelling the program. A copy of that complaint is also available on their website.
This lawsuit is the 30th case overall that Attorney General Clark has brought against the Trump Administration since President Trump took office in January. For more information on actions taken by the Attorney General on behalf of Vermonters, visit our website at ago.vermont.gov/ago-actions.
10.16.2025. MONTPELIER, Vt. – Attorney General
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