ANKARA

Nearly half of the 50 US states have filed lawsuits to stop the Trump administration from ending a $7 billion grant program that supports solar energy access for low-income communities, media reports said Friday.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “Solar for All” program, which aimed to bring solar power and battery storage to underserved households, was terminated in August by EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, according to The Guardian.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Thursday that two lawsuits were being filed, according to the outlet.

The first, submitted to the court of federal claims, seeks monetary damages.

A second suit for reinstating the program is expected to be filed in federal court in Washington state.

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said the program’s termination would impact 900,000 low-income households across the country.

Arizona alone lost $156 million, and around 11,000 homes could face a 20% rise in energy costs.

“Without this program, for many Arizonans, clean energy will be out of reach,” The Guardian quoted her as saying.

California stands to lose approximately $250 million in federal funds allocated to the program.

“The Trump administration is trying to hold us in the past, tethered to fossil fuel companies,” Bonta said.

The controversial One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by Donald Trump in July, removed the funding source for the initiative. Zeldin branded the program a “boondoggle.”

Mayes said the decision would particularly harm marginalized groups, such as the Hopi tribe in northern Arizona, which was set to receive $25 million to install solar systems in hundreds of homes without electricity.

In addition to California and Arizona, 21 other states and Washington, DC have joined the legal fight.

Under the slogan “drill baby drill,” the Trump administration has supported the use of fossil fuels while actively discouraging renewable energy, including canceling projects near completion.

Renewable energy is meant to end dependence on fossil fuels, which accelerate global warming.

Trump has long denied the existence of global warming, calling the idea a “Chinese hoax.”