Kris Mayes Takes Legal Action After EPA Pulls $156M Solar Grant

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is taking the federal government to court after it suddenly canceled a massive solar energy program that was supposed to help thousands of low-income families across the state.

Mayes filed two separate lawsuits this week against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its administrator, Lee Zeldin, claiming they illegally shut down a $7 billion nationwide program that would have brought solar panels to over 900,000 households in disadvantaged communities.

"Arizona families are already facing sky-high electricity bills, and I will not let the EPA wriggle out of its commitment," Mayes said.

The canceled program would have helped more than 11,000 Arizona households afford cleaner energy.

Solar for All

The Solar for All program was created by Congress in 2022 as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Last year, the EPA awarded Arizona nearly $156 million to launch solar projects across the state. Officials had already spent months planning how to use that money, working with community partners and mapping out which neighborhoods would benefit first.

The program promised significant benefits, such as $165 million in savings on electricity bills, thousands of new jobs in Arizona's solar industry, and enough clean energy to prevent 96,000 tons of carbon dioxide pollution annually. 

The Hopi Tribe also received $25 million to bring electricity to nearly 600 homes on the Hopi Reservation for the first time.

Termination

But in August, the EPA abruptly terminated the entire program and took back most of the money it had already given out. On social media, Zeldin called the program a "boondoggle" and claimed the agency no longer had legal authority to fund it, even though Congress had only canceled money that hadn't been awarded yet, not grants already given to states.

She stated that the EPA violated federal law and constitutional limits on government power when it illegally shut down the program.

One lawsuit argues the EPA violated federal law by canceling the program without proper authority. The second lawsuit, filed in federal claims court, seeks to recover the money Arizona was promised, and Mayes is leading the legal fight alongside attorneys general from 21 states and the District of Columbia.