Rural energy co-ops and programs such as Solar for All, a program designed to provide solar power to low-income households in Colorado, are at a standstill as massive sums of federal dollars for clean energy projects in Colorado remain frozen by the Trump administration. Despite multiple federal court rulings to unlock the funds, the administration has yet to release the money.
Colorado officials have been unable to access the funds since Inauguration Day, when President Donald Trump signed an terminating what he called 鈥渢he Green New Deal鈥� and pausing all disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The money is attached to more than 20 separate Colorado federal grant and loan programs.
Under the Solar for All program, Colorado was set to receive $156 million dollars to cover the installation of photovoltaic arrays on rooftops and in community gardens, slashing energy bills for 20,000 low and moderate-income Coloradans.
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鈥淚t's designed to provide Colorado families access to affordable clean energy while cutting electricity costs and pollution,鈥� said Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office. 鈥淥ur projection is that for those households 鈥� we would see reductions in energy costs anywhere from 30% all the way to 100% reductions in their electricity costs.鈥�
Two federal judges have ordered the Trump administration to end the funding freeze, but that yet happened.
And with continuing uncertainty around the ultimate fate of those funds, the future of the Solar for All program in Colorado remains precarious.
鈥淩eal people in Colorado are being harmed by this illegal federal funding freeze,鈥� Toor said. 鈥淚t is time for the administration to comply with federal law and unfreeze these funds. To date, the federal courts have made it clear that the administration is legally required to live up to its contractual obligations and provide these funds, so we remain confident that eventually that will take place. But right now, there's clearly significant uncertainty in the near term.鈥�
Toor said his department has had to pause planned hiring for positions to support the Solar for All program until that uncertainty resolves.
鈥淭he program is definitely being slowed down, and the benefits to Coloradans are being put off due to the illegal funding freeze,鈥� he said.
More than a dozen other programs are in the same limbo. That includes everything from grid resilience efforts, home electrification, efficiency and weatherization initiatives and electric vehicle infrastructure expansion. Along with the Solar for All funding, more than $600 million for clean energy projects hang in the lurch.
Additionally, more than $1billion in federal funding that was set aside for the United States Department of Agriculture鈥檚 (USDA) Empowering Rural America or 鈥淣ew ERA鈥� program is also paused. Colorado Rural Electric Association Executive Director Kent Singer said that money was intended to support electric cooperatives in rural parts of the state transition to clean energy.
鈥淎 lot of them were going to be new energy generation projects, and that could be solar or wind generation or battery storage,鈥� Singer said. 鈥淣ew ERA would have changed the trajectory - and still may - of some of those co-ops in terms of supporting new generation.鈥�
New electricity generation is key in Colorado, a state already in the midst of a big push to electrify all sectors of the economy, from transportation and buildings to industry.
鈥淲e are in an era of increasing electric demand in Colorado in particular,鈥� Singer said. 鈥淲e need more generating resources. And whether they're renewable or not renewable, we just need more electricity, and these (New ERA) funds will help co-ops generate more electricity and do it affordably.鈥�
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, a power wholesaler that supplies several rural cooperatives in Colorado, was $2.5 billion in low-cost New ERA financing and grants. The money is earmarked to purchasenew renewable energy sources, battery storage and the retirement of the company鈥檚 coal-fired power plant in Craig, Colo.
In an emailed statement, Tri-State spokesperson Lee Boughey said his company would continue to pursue the new resources they need to meet projected growth in electricity demand.
鈥淎 key component to meeting new demand includes assistance from the USDA New ERA Program, which will help ensure reliable, affordable power for the rural consumers we serve,鈥� Boughey wrote. 鈥淲e will continue to work with our members and advocate to the Administration and Congressional delegation to ensure we have the tools necessary to develop the energy infrastructure required to serve growing economies across the rural West.鈥�
A spokesperson for Brighton-based United Power, another co-op to receive over $260 million in New ERA funding, wrote in an emailed statement that the company remains 鈥渃autiously optimistic that the New ERA Program commitments will be honored, allowing United Power to stabilize increasing energy costs for our members.鈥�
Meanwhile, a USDA spokesperson wrote in an email that the agency is now reviewing those funds to 鈥渆nsure they comply under the Trump Administration executive orders.鈥�
Singer said his group will be watching the situation closely. He hopes the money will be released once a new Secretary of Agriculture is confirmed. He said it鈥檚 a matter of extreme significance for rural Colorado.
鈥淎lmost every co-op in Colorado has a stake in this,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ecause they will either receive some direct funding from these programs or their power supplier.鈥�
