Resonant Energy was able to help the Veterans Benefits Clearinghouse Development Corporation install panels on six sites, but couldn't finish the full 17 they had prepared for because Solar for All ended. Their buildings are pictured above. Photo: Resonant Energy.
The Veterans Benefits Clearinghouse Development Corporation (VBCDC) serves veterans and their families in all things affordable housing. The nonprofit owns and operates 455 rental units in Massachusetts – and VBCDC wanted to go green.
It contacted Resonant Energy, a Boston-based solar provider that specializes in working with nonprofits and affordable housing, to help. Together, the two came up with plans to install solar panels on 17 multifamily housing sites in Boston. But as a small affordable housing developer, VBCDC couldn’t cover the costs for all of these sites on its own.
Isaac Baker, Co-CEO and one of the founders of Resonant Energy, had a solution in mind: A new federal grant program called “Solar for All,” which had been launched in 2024 to help fund exactly this kind of project. But just as Resonant Energy and VBCDC were preparing to move forward, the Trump administration suddenly (and unlawfully) cancelled the program.
VBCDC managed to work with Resonant Energy to install solar panels at six of its sites by combining two smaller state grant programs, the federal investment tax credit, and some limited available cash on hand. But it could no longer afford the other 11.
This is an experience shared by hundreds of developers, property managers, and families after the Solar for All grant program was cancelled. CLF and our partners are fighting to bring it back.
What is Solar for All? Savings for Everyone
In 2024, the EPA awarded $7 billion in grants aimed at bringing rooftop solar panels to people who couldn’t traditionally afford or access them. All six New England states were selected to receive funding.
About 28 million households across the country spend most or almost all of their income on energy bills. Solar for All rooftop and community solar programs aimed to help alleviate these costs with a guaranteed 20% savings on electricity bills for participating households. Nationwide, the program was expected to save an estimated $350 million annually on energy bills and generate 200,000 new jobs alongside workforce training programs.
But in August of 2025, the Trump EPA abruptly terminated the program before funds could ever reach the states. It was just another front in the administration’s war on clean energy – all so it can boost dirty, expensive energy from fossil fuels.
The loss of the Solar for All funding has very real impacts on families across the region. In Massachusetts, officials predicted that 31,000 residents would have seen a 20% decrease in electricity costs, at minimum. Former Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Katie Dykes, said that funds would have brought $76,220,000 in new total household savings. Maine’s funding would have gone towards supporting workforce training for up to 700 residents in electrical work, construction, maintenance, repair and more.
Recipients Left Out to Dry
With funds abruptly cancelled, people, property managers, organizations, and more were left with ambitious plans – but not the money they were expecting to implement them.
“We spent about a year and a half preparing for it after the funding was announced,” says Resonant Energy’s Baker. That was time in which his team helped dozens of organizations across the state, like VBCDC, plan projects they would not have been able to afford without the grant’s promises.
And the loss of funds hit hard – even as recipients tried their best to persist. While VBCDC was able to progress with some solar projects, stories from across the country show many people who were left high and dry. Reporter Maxine Joselow describes how residents in Georgia entered a drawing for free solar panel installations, a drawing that suddenly ended without follow up when the administration cut the Solar for All program.
The Trump Administration is Holding Us Back
Cutting Solar for All isn’t Trump’s first move to keep us stuck in the past. His administration is waging war on all things clean energy, including literally buying out wind projects to replace with more fracked oil. His EPA has outright denied the science proving our overheating planet is tied to fossil fuels. And worst of all, his administration has ignored how much Americans are shelling out to keep the lights on in favor of keeping oil and gas giants afloat.
And the rest of the world is moving forward without us. Globally, in 2025, clean energy outpaced coal and other fossil fuels as the leading source of electricity for the first time. Except other countries, like China, are leading the charge – not the U.S. Worldwide, solar and wind power has exceeded electricity demand, led by China and India’s efforts towards clean energy. The U.S., in contrast, fell behind at a sluggish pace.
So How Do We Move Forward?
Cities, towns, and solar companies have stepped up to ensure their clients and constituents can still access the ever-growing potential of solar energy. Resonant Energy is just one of many trying to push past this roadblock. Boston Community Solar Cooperative has been vocal in the media about moving ahead with plans, whether the federal administration is on board or not.
Ultimately, the administration’s move to end the program is unlawful. That’s why CLF and our partners have sued the federal government to reverse the illegal termination. We and our partners are representing trade unions, nonprofits, and more – all fighting to restore promised funding that would have brought everyone, regardless of who you are, how much you make, or where you call home, closer to cleaner, cheaper energy.
Resonant Energy’s Baker has a message for the region: It’s critical for states to get courageous. “The big levers are going to be at the state and utility level,” he says. “Continued state leadership will be required to address the gaps between now and 2028 both to mitigate rising energy costs for consumers and to ensure the industry survives while we wait out the current Trump administration.”
Whether by lawsuit, state funding, or sheer persistence – the answer is clear. No one is letting go of solar yet, regardless of what the administration is trying to do. Because we all deserve to keep our lights on without emptying our wallets to do it.
