Solar has taken off in red states. Trump's funding freeze is causing panic

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Mon 17 Feb 2025 07.00 EST
Last modified on Mon 17 Feb 2025 07.03 EST


Mike Mullett strains to see through sheets of misty rain while driving through working-class neighborhoods of Columbus, a quaint town in southern Indiana. He’s trying to find the senior center, multi-family homes and rent-assisted properties – more than 530 in total – that he and many other locals hope will receive $4.42m in federal funding for solar electricity projects.

But now that money is at risk. On 20 January, Donald Trump paused billions of dollars of federal grant funding for clean energy and other projects around the country initiated by the Biden administration’s Green New Deal. “We’ve been slavishly working on a plan since April 2023 that would provide solar energy to hundreds of households in two low- and moderate-income Columbus neighborhoods,” says Mullett.

The project was expected to be rolled out in April, with previously approved funding thought to have been made available by 14 February. “Unless the Trump administration makes a 180-degree turn on funding, that expectation will obviously not be met.”

The funding is part of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s $7bn Solar for All program, which is meant to help low-income families save money on electricity costs. About $117m was set for solar projects and initiatives in Indiana.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/17/red-states-solar-trump-funding-freeze

[Lovie777]

1. Oops.....

[MuseRider]

2. I don't know the

numbers here in Kansas but you see it around. We have had it out here on the farm for 12 years

[Stryst]

5. How do you like it?

I've been trying to talk my in-laws into getting a solar set for their pecan farm. Every year they loose power to wind storms.

[MuseRider]

7. We like it a lot.

I wish we could have afforded more and really gotten off the grid but it has helped quite a lot. It has never broken down or caused any problems it is a reliable payment that helps out here where the weather is getting much more extreme. Tell your parents to look around. Ours is so hands off we forget we have it. My husband knows more about it and he is not here to answer anything, we are prepping for another big, crummy episode tonight with big snow and high winds so he is out and I have to go prep the barns. I had hoped to get some solar to the horse barn by now but no such luck. Wouldn't that be cool? Tell them to go slow and get the right thing. It is not hard to understand but then again it is. Not my kind of stuff anyway but oh is it nice when you see those bills.

**I simply forgot this we heat our house partly using the pond that is close to the house.I forget what that is called but it is really nice.

Gotta run. Expecting 10 inches and we just got rid of most of the 14 we had before. These are the days you wish you did not have a farm but knowing there is solar doing a part of the work it is much easier. Good luck!

[Stryst]

12. Good to hear!

The hands off part is important, because neither is an electrician. But too many times having to dump a fridge or freezer because wind + red oaks is a bad combo.

[Journeyman]

3. Looks like the leopards eat whether you're bathed in solar light or sitting in the dark . . .

[Beartracks]

4. I certainly hope people aren't shy about pointing the finger of blame where it belongs...

... when this shit keeps happening. Like Huntsville Utilities in Alabama: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143395879

===================

[sinkingfeeling]

6. Yep, headline in the Arkansas Times update today: Trump Administration Freezes $200 Million That Was to

Come to Arkansas.

[Justice matters.]

9. I sure they didn't follow it with "to give it to Elon Musk"

"and Donald Trump" although they should keep a close eye on the follow up...

Leopards remain hungry from one election to the next...

[BaronChocula]

8. I would love to say that THIS...

is the genius of Joe Biden; give the people what they need. Even if they don't appreciate it and vote you out, they'll turn on their rapist when he tries to take it away.

But in reality, these people will continue backing the felon. It's in the tradition of certain Americans' fealty to the greediest and cruelest white men.

[markodochartaigh]

10. In Florida

last year I was seeing at least one ad an hour on YouTube for solar power. Now there are absolutely none.

What seems to have taken their place is ads for some kind of fund which mimics the stock trades of Senators and people in the House. We've gone from "elected representatives should not be allowed to trade in the stock market" to "let them trade on their inside knowledge and we will follow along".

[Old Crank]

11. Dems need to pound that message home.

Every Republican is just fine with your electric rates sky rocketing while they rake in contributions from power companies and fuel companies.

[Miguelito Loveless]

13. Solar as an energy solution/strategy is a no-brainer

I have had solar for 10 years now. It provides power, heating, air-conditioning, and fuels my cars (EVs). Until this year, my total expenditure on electricity during the winter months was $200-$400 a year. I just joined my utility's virtual power plant program, and am now paid a monthly fee to make my batteries available for a set number of times per month, for 30 minutes at a time. This will erase my expenditure going forward, and probably give me a small payment of a few hundred dollars.

Solar/batteries should be part of our building code going forward. It is a solution that simply works, NOW. Photons leave the sun 93 million miles away, and arrive in 8 minutes. They then become electrons and travel 10 feet from my roof to my breaker box. What doesn't get used immediately goes into batteries, or onto the grid to power my neighbors houses.

[slightlv]

14. Crap! We just began looking into solar seriously about 3 weeks ago,

thanks to the tax incentives it made it somewhat affordable for us. If trump goes through with the cutting of this, we're out. And I feel strongly towards powering as much as I can with solar power. There are some infrastructure things that are just too big for ordinary people to carry alone on their own shoulders. This IS something that should be helped by the Federal Government.