Attorney General Mayes Co-Leads Challenge to EPA's Attacks on Affordable, Clean Energy for Low-Income Households

PHOENIX — Attorney General Kris Mayes and several other plaintiffs are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for illegally ending a $7 billion program that lowers energy costs and pollution by bringing solar energy to more than 900,000 households in low-income and disadvantaged communities across the country.

Arizona and other grant recipients also filed suit yesterday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to recover damages for EPA’s unlawful breach of grant agreements that were executed under this program.

“Beyond the fact that this energy infrastructure funding has already been appropriated to our state and is owed to Arizonans, protecting solar projects and lower electricity bills is personal to me,” said Attorney General Mayes. “Arizona families are already facing sky-high electricity bills, and I will not let the EPA wriggle out of its commitment to fund solar energy projects that would lower costs for more than 11,000 Arizona households.”

Congress created the Solar for All program in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, directing EPA to make competitive grants to states and other entities to deploy solar projects in low-income and disadvantaged areas. EPA selected recipients and, by August 2024, had awarded all of the program funds to the plaintiff states and other grant recipients. Arizona and the other plaintiffs moved forward with planning projects and working with stakeholders to develop their solar programs.

But EPA abruptly and unlawfully terminated the program two months ago and clawed back the vast majority of the money already awarded. That has left Arizona and the other plaintiffs without access to the funds to proceed with their solar programs, after the states spent significant time and resources planning and launching programs. . In 2024, EPA awarded the state of Arizona a nearly $156 million grant to establish its Solar for All Arizonans program, designed to add affordable and reliable distributed electricity generation to Arizona’s grid. 

Had Arizona been able to implement its EPA-approved plans, the Solar for All Arizonan program would have brought substantial benefits to program participants and to the State, including creating $165 million in bill savings for participating households, thousands of new, good-paying jobs throughout Arizona’s solar industry and 61 megawatts of new solar deployment, all while preventing at least 96,000 tons of CO2 from entering Arizona’s atmosphere each year.

The Hopi Tribe, through its Hopi Utilities Corporation, also received a $25 million Solar for All grant to install solar panels and battery storage in homes across the Hopi Reservation in Northeastern Arizona.The Solar for All program would have improved energy access for nearly 600 Hopi homes, many of which had never before had access to electricity.

When President Trump took office this past January, he prioritized fossil fuel extraction to address an alleged “energy emergency” while arbitrarily excluding solar power as a resource that can be tapped to meet the country’s energy needs. In July, Congress passed the president’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” rescinding funds for the Solar for All program that were unobligated as of July 3. The effect of that move was small, given that EPA had obligated all of the $7 billion for the program nearly a year earlier.

But instead of following that newly passed law, EPA and Zeldin illegally terminated the program on August 7. On social media, Zeldin made baseless accusations, calling Solar for All a “boondoggle.” The agency then sent memos to all recipients, including the plaintiffs, saying EPA no longer has a “statutory basis or dedicated funding” for the program, even though Congress never directed EPA to cancel funds that had already been awarded. In fact, Congress did the opposite by only rescinding unobligated funds for Solar for All.

Attorney General Mayes and several other plaintiffs are filing a lawsuit today in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, alleging, among other things, that the EPA violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution’s Separation of Powers Doctrine in unlawfully cancelling the program.

Attorney General Mayes and the attorneys general of Minnesota and Washington, are leading this complaint, which is being joined by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Also joining the complaint are the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, as well as the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

Separately, Arizona co-led a lawsuit that was filed yesterday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In that complaint, the states and other entities argue the EPA breached the clear terms of the agreements and violated the duty of good faith and fair dealing in canceling their Solar for All grants. They’re asking the court to award the plaintiffs money damages, interest, and fees.

Attorney General Mayes and the attorney general of Maryland are leading this complaint, which was joined by the attorneys general in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia. Also joining the complaint are the governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania, as well as the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

Attorney General Mayes is spearheading both lawsuits after a long career of fighting for renewable energy and subsequent cost-savings for Arizona consumers. While serving as a Republican Commissioner and Commission Chair on the Arizona Corporation Commission, Attorney General Mayes co-authored Arizona’s renewable energy standards. As Attorney General, she has fought to protect solar investment and cost savings in Arizona, including by fighting the struck down a legal challenge to an extra fee exclusively for Arizona Public Service’s (APS’s) solar fee.  

A copy of yesterday’s complaint is available here. A copy of today’s complaint will be available here later today.