Program to Help Wisconsin Households Access Solar Power in Limbo Due to Federal Government's Funding Freeze

Wednesday, February 12th, 2025 -- 8:00 AM

(Joe Schulz, Wisconsin Public Radio) A program to help low- to moderate-income households in Wisconsin access solar power is in limbo after the federal government paused previously-approved funding for it last month.

According to Joe Schulz with the Wisconsin Public Radio, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. was awarded a $62 million grant last April from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All program, funded through the Inflation Reduction Act.

The state agency planned to use the money to deploy rooftop residential solar and community solar projects that support low- and moderate-income families. It hoped to begin funding projects this year.

WEDC’s funding application had support from a coalition of investor-owned, municipal and cooperative utilities, as well as community organizations and local governments, according to Sam Rikkers, chief operating officer for WEDC.

After his inauguration last month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order telling federal agencies to pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act.

On Jan. 28, the EPA sent letters to Solar for All recipients telling them their grants had been paused until further notice. Rikkers said Monday afternoon that WEDC has been in regular contact with the federal government but “received communication that has really led to a lot of uncertainty” around the Solar for All program.

“We are working every day to make sure that we’re staying on track with our work on Solar for All,” he said. “We’re not seeing the money with certainty coming to us as we expected it to.”

Rikkers said the agency does not know when money could be released, but will to continue the planning process. WEDC still hopes to begin making investments through the program by this summer, he said.

“We will continue to, on a regular basis, make sure that we are holding up our end of the bargain on our Solar for All agreement with EPA,” he said. “We expect that EPA will hold up its end of the bargain and need some time, we hope, to work out the uncertainty that it’s working through.”

He declined to say whether WEDC would be able to move forward with the program without the federal funding, but said those dollars “are really critical.”

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