Pennsylvania’s solar ambitions face high federal and state hurdles

It’s unclear how far, for his part, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, will go to defend the Solar for All funds. But environmental advocates in the state told Capital & Main that the letter it sent to the federal government on Aug. 28 is a required first step to litigation.

“It does not reflect a commitment on the Shapiro administration’s part to pursue a legal challenge,” said Robert Routh, Pennsylvania policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. ​“But it is a necessary step procedurally in order to allow them to be able to do that in the future.”

A spokesperson for Shapiro did not respond to Capital & Main’s requests for comment. Shapiro sued the Trump administration in February after a Jan. 20 executive order froze all Inflation Reduction Act funds, including Solar for All. The funds were later unfrozen, but then thrown into limbo with Zeldin’s announcement. Whether Shapiro will again take action to wrestle back the money is an open question.

But, even if Pennsylvania were to succeed and retain its solar funding, the state legislature remains a stumbling block. Embroiled in a bitter impasse, the state’s budget has yet to reach Shapiro’s desk nearly three months after the June 30 annual deadline. Though rescinded for now by the EPA, Pennsylvania’s award of Solar for All funds, like many public programs in the state, including Medicaid and education, is also caught in the crossfire of the budget debate.

Three months after Pennsylvania was awarded its Solar for All grant funding, a line was inserted into an omnibus fiscal-code bill requiring that the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority, the agency responsible for doling out the dollars, secure approval from the state legislature in order to spend the funds.

Pennsylvania’s Solar for All funds were earmarked for low-income residents and those who live in environmental justice communities — ones that are disproportionately exposed to pollution. The program promised to provide solar installations to 12,500 households that were guaranteed at least 20% savings on their electricity bills. It promised to thwart climate change-inducing fossil-fuel emissions, create green jobs, and help build out the state’s solar economy, which is a fraction of that of other fossil-fuel-producing states. Pennsylvania currently ranks 49^th in the nation for its growth in solar, wind, and geothermal generation over the last decade, according to the nonprofit advocacy group PennEnvironment.

“This is taxpayer money that’s out there. It was competitive. It was given to pretty much all the states. We got a share, and we’re turning our back on it,” said Jen Quinn, legislative and political director at the Pennsylvania chapter of the Sierra Club. ​“It’s just deeply confusing.”

State Rep. Elizabeth Fiedler, a progressive Democrat from Philadelphia, introduced a bill in January attempting to secure that legislative approval. But, after advancing out of committee, it was quickly halted by an amendment that critics said amounted to a poison pill, forcing Fiedler to look for other ways to free up the grant money.

“Solar and wind are the cheapest and quickest to build and can offer households savings,” Fiedler told Capital & Main in a statement. ​“It’s ridiculous to block these new projects at a time when Pennsylvanians are struggling more and more to keep up with rising electricity bills.”

As negotiations over the state budget creep on, it is unclear whether language that would release the state’s allocation of Solar for All funding will make it into a final deal, regardless of whether it is restored by the Trump administration. In June, the Democratic-controlled state House passed a bill that included a line doing just that, but when it reached the Republican-controlled Senate, the line was abruptly removed from the legislation.

“Negotiations are ongoing,” said Elizabeth Rementer, press secretary for House Democratic Majority Leader Matt Bradford, of Montgomery County, in a statement on the status of the Solar for All funding. ​“Despite the fact that Solar for All remains an important priority for House Democrats, it’s clear Senate Republicans are unwilling to release these funds to help cut utility costs for Pennsylvanians and grow the economy.”

This battle mirrors the one playing out at the federal level — both stemming from arcane language tucked into the pages of megabills, both viciously partisan and both with no clear end in sight. Those who are hurt the most by it, advocates say, are low-income homeowners faced with rising energy costs.

“It is hard to find a clear rationale for the politicization of these funds,” said Corby, the Vote Solar regional director. ​“Especially in a world where legislators on either side of the aisle are hearing from their constituents practically every day about how hard it is to keep up with rising energy costs.”