SAN FRANCISCO, USA – Just a few weeks ago, Brandon Prylow, a pastor in Norfolk, Virginia, was speaking to families in his community about a federally funded program to help them install solar power units on their rooftops. Government funds will pay for the installation, and once installed, it will ease the burden of rising electricity prices, a pressing concern.
Then Prylow heard that the federal government had scrapped the $7 billion Solar for All program that was supposed to fund his project and other solar projects across the country, leaving them stranded.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
It is one of several federally funded renewable energy projects that have been canceled or scheduled to end early, setting the country off its renewable energy transition plans and making it harder to meet climate goals.
Prylow, Virginia program director for Solar United Neighbors, was helping roll out a project that received $156 million in federal funding to help install solar power to 7,500 low- and moderate-income households. Mr Preilault said he was “appalled” by the sudden withdrawal.
The federal government will also end the 30% tax credit for residential rooftop installations this December. For companies, these tax credits will only be available if they start construction of factories, shopping malls and other businesses eligible for solar installations by June 2026.
The Department of Energy also pulled $13 billion in funding from a variety of other renewable energy projects, including power grid upgrades, carbon-neutral cement production, and battery energy storage. The administration also canceled several wind energy funding programs.
President Trump said, “I’m not going to approve wind turbines unless there’s an emergency.”
According to an April 2025 report from BloombergNEF, this could result in losses of $114 billion due to delays or cancellations of wind energy projects.
In Florida, application forms were ready for 10,000 low- and moderate-income households to enroll in federal grants to install rooftop solar units when the $156 million project was canceled in August.
“I’m scared to use the electricity. I’m scared to turn on the air conditioner,” a Miami-Dade County resident told a volunteer who helped him fill out a grant application because the state’s soaring electricity rates have made his electricity unaffordable.
Heaven Campbell, Florida program director for Solar United Neighbors, which was working on implementing the project, told Al Jazeera that electricity prices in the state have increased by 60% since 2019 for some residents.
Other states are also seeing various increases in electricity costs due to the rise in Russian natural gas prices due to hurricanes and the war in Ukraine.
Utility company Florida Power & Light is also currently pushing for further rate increases to raise nearly $10 billion over the next four years, according to the Florida Office of Public Counsel.
Solar United staff are trying to educate residents that if they don’t use electricity, they can be disconnected and there will be a fee to reconnect.
Ending the tax credit early means “consumers are at the mercy of their utility bills,” and their rates will rise, said Bernadette Del Chiaro, senior vice president for California at the Environmental Working Group.
“The influence of the rain shadow”
The rooftop solar tax credit set to expire in December is creating a scramble for installations, with some solar installers saying they are having to turn away customers.
“We will see the effects of this rain shadow in 2026,” Del Chiaro said, referring to the sharp decline in business and employment that the industry is bracing for next year.
“This is a big sell-off in the solar coaster,” said Barry Cinnamon, CEO of San Francisco-based solar installation company Cinnamon Energy Systems.
Ed Murray, president of the California Solar Power and Energy Storage Association, told Al Jazeera that he expects the elimination of the tax credit to double the payback period for installation and other costs associated with solar power units to up to 12 years.
Mr Murray said air quality would likely worsen and the state would also lead to job losses for thousands of skilled workers in the sector, even though the state is expected to miss its climate goals.
In its announcement to withdraw from these projects, the Department of Energy’s notice states that the projects “advance the previous administration’s wasteful Green New fraud agenda.”
“By returning these funds to American taxpayers, the Trump Administration affirms its commitment to promoting more affordable, reliable and secure American energy and to being more responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.
Critics of solar projects say that even though solar customers pay lower utility bills, they continue to use electricity when they need it, raising costs for households still using the grid.
Instead, the Trump administration has supported oil and gas production through several measures, including a recent plan to open up the entire Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) for oil and gas leasing. It also eased drilling permits on federal land.
rising costs
The Biden administration was funding renewable energy projects under something called the Green New Deal, a program that promotes economic growth and job creation while positively impacting climate change.
But even as these projects began to roll out, electricity costs rose sharply in many states, including Virginia.
A recent study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that electricity costs are rising faster than inflation in 26 states, citing a variety of factors, including the war in Ukraine and extreme weather events such as wildfires and hurricanes that have damaged already aging utility poles and power grids.
Prices in California, for example, have increased more than 34% since 2019, the research report said. This is in part because record-breaking wildfires have forced power companies to replace and strengthen power lines. $630 million in federal funding to strengthen California’s power grid was one of the projects canceled by the Department of Energy.
“Most of the projects that were canceled were in progress,” said Ryan Schrieter, communications director at the Climate Center, a California-based think tank.
Thanks to federal incentives, more than 20% of cars sold in the state over the past two years have been electric vehicles (EVs). All of this has made it possible for middle-income people to buy EVs, Schrieter says. Since the incentives ended on September 30, “the biggest challenge will be how to maintain fairness,” he said.
Susan Stephenson, executive director of California Power & Light, which helps houses of worship adopt renewable energy, said some houses of worship that had planned to transition to solar energy or install EV charging stations are now having trouble finding installers, and federal budget cuts are causing costs to rise beyond what was originally budgeted.
In Virginia, Preilault said, electricity costs have emerged as one of the biggest concerns in his interactions with congregants. The state has more data centers than any other state in the country, which Preilault believes could be contributing to the rising costs.
Voter dissatisfaction with rising electricity costs is one of the biggest issues in the state’s gubernatorial election, which was held on November 4. One of the promises made by the winning Democratic candidate, Abigail Spanberger, was to reduce energy costs by increasing energy production and having data centers pay a higher percentage of their electricity costs.
Preilault is hopeful that the new governor will also be able to revive solar projects whose cuts have already been litigated. Lawsuits over federal funding cuts continue in Florida.
Several states, including California, have announced their own reductions in renewable energy incentives.
But as the withdrawal of funds harms residents, Steve Larson, former executive director of the California Public Utilities Commission, expects more lawsuits aimed at reducing federal subsidies and restoring programs that allow renewable energy projects to continue and master the “art of delay.”
