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A Trump-appointed federal judge ruled the Environmental Protection Agency’s termination of the $7 billion Solar for All program (of which Texas received around $450 million) was unlawful. That’s because the One Big Beautiful Bill Act repealed only unobligated funds, and these grants were already obligated.
The ruling means the EPA will have to release the funding, said Nick Torrey, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
“We have seen this administration try to resist and appeal and fight,” Torrey said. “They don’t have any excuse for sitting on this money anymore. They have to get this money out.”
The EPA argued the court lacked jurisdiction over the plaintiffs’ claims and that the claims were meritless. The federal agency told Inside Climate News it is “reviewing the decision and considering options for appeal.”
Earlier this week, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to stop issuing data center permits until the ERCOT and Texas Water Development Board audits are complete. That covers the behind-the-meter projects that bypass grid approval and applies to parts of the state outside ERCOT that his August grid moratorium missed.
“Because the information sought by the PUC, ERCOT, and TWDB is necessary to make informed decisions by each of those agencies, no other state agency shall move forward with regulatory approvals related to data centers until this information is acquired,” Abbott wrote in the letter to TCEQ Monday. “This action is consistent with my whole-of-government approach to ensure Texans’ natural resources and way of life are protected.
