Sanders, 32 Democrats Urge EPA to Restore Solar for All

The senators say EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin terminated $7 billion in funding already appropriated by Congress. In a letter, they called the move unlawful and poorly timed, and said the initiative could have reduced residential electricity bills by at least 20% for nearly 1 million homes while saving working families nearly $9 billion in electric costs. They estimated it could also have saved families $350 million annually as power bills rise.

The program, spearheaded by Sanders (I-Vt.), was designed to expand low-income households’ access to renewable energy and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs. The letter’s signatories include Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.). They said canceling the program jeopardized investments, threatened jobs and disrupted solar training and apprenticeship programs in West Virginia, Alaska and across the Midwest. They also argued that the initiative would have helped reduce fossil fuel emissions and improve grid reliability.

At least 23 states have sued the Trump administration over the cancellation. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told Courthouse News Service that the $156 million awarded to Arizona could have produced household energy savings and thousands of jobs. Solar installations supported by the funding could have generated 61 megawatts of clean energy and prevented at least 90,000 tons of CO2 emissions in the state each year, she said.

Nick Torrey, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center representing advocacy groups that filed a separate lawsuit last week, told Courthouse News that families had been counting on energy-bill relief. The senators called on the EPA to restore the program, address the effects of its termination and provide a full account of how it would repair the damage.