Federal freeze includes $156M solar power program for low-income Tennessee households

A $156 million federal grant supporting solar energy for low-income communities in Tennessee is on hold.

Funding for a $156 million Tennessee program meant to lower energy costs for low-income families through solar panel installation is on hold under President Donald Trump’s freeze of Biden-era clean energy initiatives.

Tennessee is one of 49 states selected to receive awards through the $7 billion Solar for All program. Former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act authorized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to fund the grants, which would create or expand solar programs for an estimated 900,000 households in low-income communities across the nation. Once complete, the program is expected to save overburdened households $350 million annually on electric bills, according to the EPA.

The EPA also awarded Solar for All funds to six tribes and five nonprofits serving multiple states.

“EPA has informed (the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation)’s Office of Energy Programs that it has paused all funding allocations related to the Inflation Reduction Act (e.g., Solar for All) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” spokesperson Jennifer Donnals wrote in an email to the Tennessee Lookout Friday.

The department has not been given a timeline for when funding might be restored.

The freeze on unspent funds under Biden-era clean energy programs was one of Trump’s first actions in office, and state officials and nonprofits are challenging its legitimacy in court.

A coalition of Democratic attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia responded to Trump’s “Unleashing American Energy” executive order with a lawsuit. Tennessee was not among the states to sue.

Other states have reported their Solar for All funding being spared and then frozen again in a matter of days despite a federal judge’s order for the Trump administration to release the funds.

Tennessee’s Solar for All program is not accepting applications. The state is still developing its guidelines, a process expected to extend through 2025, according to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s website.