Harris County on Monday filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency following the Trump administration’s move to claw back more than $250 million secured for solar energy initiatives in Texas.
The 32-page lawsuit filed in district court in Washington, D.C. comes nearly a month after Harris County commissioners authorized the county attorney’s office to pursue legal action against the federal government over its move to rescind a multi-million-dollar grant earmarked for Texas' Solar for All program, which is led by Harris County.
The solar program was intended to fund clean energy initiatives for low-income households across the state, create job growth and establish community hubs powered by solar energy reserves in the event of power outages. The program was backed by a $7 billion clean energy fund signed by former President Joe Biden.
But money earmarked for a cohort of local governments and organizations in Texas was rescinded on Aug. 7 when the county received a termination letter from the EPA claiming to end the initiative. The attorney’s office, according to county documents, had serious doubts about the legality of the termination notice and seeks to challenge the EPA’s decision.
The lawsuit asserts that the move to draw back funding violated the Administrative Procedure Act, federal statutes and the U.S. Constitution.
Harris County was one of 60 recipients across the U.S. that received funds from the EPA for Solar for All, which was designed to save thousands of dollars for low-income households by expanding access to clean energy. All of the funds in the clean energy program were earmarked by August last year, according to the lawsuit. After the funds were distributed, the Texas coalition developed a workplan and solar energy infrastructure.
Upon his reelection into office, Trump issued an executive order that would immediately pause the distribution of dollars that were appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act, which funded the solar energy initiative.
Within days, according to the lawsuit, Harris County and other recipients of the solar grants learned the EPA suspended their accounts and froze grant dollars. In August, the EPA announced its decision to eliminate Solar for All, citing the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“They claimed that a new law repealed the funding, but that is false,” Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said during a press conference Monday. “The law that they have cited does not rescind that money, nor does it rescind $7 billion that had already been legally obligated to local governments like ours.”
The action to pull back funding has caused irreparable harm to Harris County, according to the lawsuit. The EPA couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
“What the EPA did here is just wrong,” Menefee said. “But it wasn’t just that, it was unlawful. and it was pretextual. They never supported the program so they made up an excuse for killing it.”
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