After weeks-long federal freeze from Trump, Georgia BRIGHT gets its money for solar.
Six weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency was ordered to halt the access of $7 billion dollars in grant money to Solar For All recipients across the nation by the Office of Management and Budget by order of President Donald Trump’s administration.
In Georgia, recipient Georgia BRIGHT was cut off from its $156 million dollars in funding, unable to log in to an online grant portal after the OMB issued a freeze Jan. 28, saying it was necessary to “review” the spending. Days later, on Feb. 3, the OMB rescinded the issued freeze. Still, grantees were locked out from their funds.
Last week, Georgia BRIGHT confirmed to the Ledger-Enquirer that the money had been unfrozen.
Nicholas Creel, who is a Community Advisory Board member at Georgia BRIGHT, an associate professor of business law at Georgia College and State University and director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the university, worked for the past year to create the workforce necessary to implement the program needs.
“I’m elated to hear that Solar for All is finally getting access to the funding they were promised,” Creel said in an email.
Creel created a program that educates workers about installing solar energy material and other needs. This was meant to help the program get ready to help up to 16,000 homes get rooftop solar panels over the next four years. The initiative was specifically meant for low-income and disadvantaged communities who could save on their electric bills if they had the panels.
It’s unclear why the Solar for All grants were unfrozen, though lawsuits were filed and public outcry was frequent after the freeze went into place.
The EPA hasn’t provided any info on its website and didn’t respond to the Ledger-Enquirer prior to publication. But the agency issued a statement to several media outlets last month.
“EPA worked expeditiously to enable payment accounts for (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) and (Inflation Reduction Act) grant recipients, so funding is now accessible to all recipients,” the EPA said.
The same day the OMB kept grantees from accessing their money, 22 states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit saying it was unconstitutional to stop funding approved by Congress.
Four days later, U.S. Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of Rhode Island issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the Trump administration from freezing federal funds. But the administration kept withholding access.
On Feb. 10, McConnell issued an Enforcement Order, instructing the administration to immediately restore frozen funding, end any federal pause, and stop any pause or freeze.
But it wasn’t another 10 days until grantees could access the funds, and another 15 days until EPA released statements to some members of the press.
On Feb. 25, a second federal judge, Loren AliKhan in D.C., extended a block on the Trump administration’s freeze, preventing Trump from carrying out the freeze.
“The federal government continues to create chaos by freezing, unfreezing, and even terminating grants without explanation,” Southern Environmental Law Center Litigation Director Kym Meyer said in an email. “While some courts have issued orders requiring that certain grants be unfrozen, agency compliance with those orders has been uneven and not clearly explained.”
Georgia BRIGHT said it was unaware of the reason for the money being unfrozen. The EPA hasn’t responded to questions about the release of the money.
“Hard working non-profit organizations stand ready to implement Congressional priorities with the funding that has been committed to them, but are being stymied by the erratic and deeply disrespectful behavior at the federal level,” Meyer said in her email.
It’s possible other roadblocks could come up for Georgia BRIGHT and other organizations using this money.
“I am doubtful this is the end of the saga,” Creel said in his email. “The Trump administration has been clear they intend to disrupt initiatives that don’t align with their agenda, and green energy is most definitely not something they are eager to support. So this should be viewed as a win but we should not let up, we should continue to let our members of Congress know how much programs like this will help their constituents.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated after Georgia BRIGHT clarified it wasn’t aware of the reason for the money being unfrozen.
This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 12:41 PM with the headline "After weeks-long federal freeze from Trump, Georgia BRIGHT gets its money for solar.."
