Much of the ‘Green Energy’ Funding Was Money Laundering; The California Solar Initiative That Never Was

Much of the ‘Green Energy’ Funding Was Money Laundering:

State agencies remain in an “administrative and planning phase,."

Every time the Trump administration pulls back money that was supposed to be allocated for Lefty Agenda X or Radical Policy Y, there are howls of outrage, but it’s curious how little of the money was actually used to do anything.

Take California, please.

The Trump administration wants to cancel solar programs that let everyday people tap into nearby panels. In California, the technology never even got off the ground.

Almost none of the $250 million that California received from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Solar for All program, which the Trump administration is making plans to terminate as soon as this week, has made it out the door yet.

The EPA announced in April 2024 that it was giving the state a $250 million award. To date, the CPUC, which is responsible for the grant, has distributed next to nothing.

State agencies remain in an “administrative and planning phase,” according to the CPUC website...

--->READ MORE HERE

Rich Pedroncelli/AP

The California solar initiative that never was

THROWING SHADE: The Trump administration wants to cancel community solar. In California, the technology never even got off the ground.

Almost none of the $250 million that California received from the Inflation Reduction Act’s Solar for All program, which the Trump administration is making plans to terminate as soon as this week, has made it out the door yet.

Solar companies fear they’re on the cusp of losing their best shot at setting up a thriving program in the state for so-called community solar. The dream is to give renters and electricity customers who can’t afford to put panels on their rooftops the chance to draw from nearby mid-sized solar installations. But it hasn’t gone far in California.

“It’s really tragic,” said Joe Henri, senior vice president of policy at community solar developer Dimension Energy. “California’s very elaborate plans are really in jeopardy.”

Advocates like Henri aren’t just blaming the feds, though. Rather, they’re placing a big share of the responsibility at the feet of the California Public Utilities Commission. The EPA announced in April 2024 that it was giving the state a $250 million award. To date, the CPUC, which is responsible for the grant, has distributed next to nothing.

The agency set up a tariff structure for community solar programs in May 2024, and said it would use the Solar for All funding to augment the payments, which advocates said would be too stingy to incentivize projects. But that wasn’t the end. In that decision, the agency asked utilities and community choice aggregators to file a slew of additional advisory paperwork.

The back and forth between the CPUC and interest groups continued on from there. In April 2025, a year after the original EPA award announcement, Administrative Law Judge Valerie Kao put out a notice asking interest groups for more feedback, including how to prudently spend the Solar for All funding before its use-it-or-lose-it deadline of April 2029.

State agencies remain in an “administrative and planning phase,” according to the CPUC website.

“The PUC’s slow-walking of this process has likely squandered $250 million in federal support,” said Matthew Freedman, a staff attorney with The Utility Reform Network. “As of today, we have no program, no development, federal tax credits that are about to sunset, and now an announcement that Solar for All funding is going to be pulled by the Trump administration.” --->READ MORE HERE

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