Earlier this month, North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, along with 22 other Attorneys General, sued the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for canceling funds meant to help low-income and rural communities use solar power to save on energy costs.
The Solar for All program, created by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, was set to allocate more than $7 billion to states nationwide and $150 million in North Carolina for the installation of rooftop solar panels. The funds would have helped more than 12,000 households in North Carolina save an average of 20 percent on their utility bills.
The funds would also have helped areas be more resilient after natural disasters. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, nearly 1.2 million Duke Energy customers lost power in North Carolina – some for weeks. In contrast, households with solar panels can store energy for later use and generate energy even when a power grid is down.
“Thousands of families were going to have the option to install solar power, save money, and have another energy option after a major storm. Now the EPA has illegally cancelled those funds – so I’m going to court to bring $150 million back to our state,” Jackson said in a press release.
The Solar for All funds were also going to help create another 140 new jobs, primarily in rural areas, for contractors, construction workers, and maintenance staff. The solar energy industry already employs more than 9,000 North Carolinians and helps more than 200 businesses operate throughout the state. In a letter to AG Jackson, business leaders decried the canceled funding.
“EPA’s proposed termination could not come at a worse time for electric customers and small businesses across North Carolina,” local business leaders wrote in the letter. “NC DEQ has already invested time, energy, and resources in developing our state’s Solar for All program and ensuring that it delivers for people across North Carolina. Terminating DEQ’s grant 2 would deny small businesses the benefits of those investments that they have planned for in anticipation of the program. EPA’s attempt to terminate North Carolina’s Solar for All program is unjustified. We ask you to take action to protect North Carolina’s electric customers and small businesses.”
The EPA awarded $156 million in Solar for All funds to North Carolina in July 2024. In August 2025, after Congress passed the Trump administration’s signature budget bill, the EPA unilaterally cancelled all grant agreements, leaving North Carolina without more than $150 million of the $156 million it had been awarded.
Jackson and the other Attorneys General are arguing that the grants were abruptly cancelled without a valid legal basis and must be returned to the states.
