FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2025
Contact: John Neurohr, [email protected], 717-364-6452
APPALACHIA – On Tuesday, August 5th, the New York Times reported that the EPA is preparing to terminate all 60 grants awarded under the $7 billion Solar for All program, threatening to stall the deployment of cost-saving distributed solar energy technologies in low-income, rural, and other disadvantaged communities across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Statement from Dana Kuhnline, Program Director at ReImagine Appalachia, on this development:
“If true, this senseless action will waste years of preparation for a program that would make energy more affordable for millions of Americans. The Solar for All program would create hundreds of thousands of good-quality, local jobs nationally – jobs that cannot be shipped overseas.
“The Solar for All program has granted $637 million to programs in VA, PA, OH, WV, and KY, as well as another $811 million that communities in these states would have access to via multi-state projects. We can roughly estimate that the proposed Solar for All clawbacks would undermine good work for more than 6,000 Appalachians over four years, and prevent the installation of solar on more than 150,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities in our region. These programs would have saved Appalachia’s low-income households more than $70 million on their utility bills.
“Solar for All is one of the few federal programs left that can help Americans lower their electricity bills. Appalachian communities have been hard hit by the downturn of the coal industry and rising electric bills. Solar for All is a practical program that could create real relief for households across the region.
“Members of Congress need to speak up against these terminations.”