LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A dynamic situation is unfolding for local community solar advocates here in Las Vegas after the Trump Administration put a freeze on funding distribution.
It has to do with a $7 billion EPA program called Solar For All— of which $156 million has been appropriated to Nevada to provide solar power to 20,000 low-income households.
The Nevada Clean Energy Fund is the organization that distributes that money to Silver State recipients, and their Solar For All applications opened in December of 2024. The 501(c)(3) was established by state legislation and offers financial and technical resources to accelerate clean energy growth in the state.
The organization's spokesperson, Jeanette Zambrano, sent me the following statement via email:
We are actively monitoring the administration's policies and associated federal litigation to identify and mitigate any impact on our programs. We are committed to implementing these funds to benefit Nevadan communities. The Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) can confirm that legally obligated EPA funds—ONLY those allocated under the Solar for All, Clean School Bus, and Community Change Grants programs—are currently frozen in the Treasury payment system despite the temporary restraining orders in place.
I reached out to Les Lazareck, an energy auditor with Home Energy Connection. He said these federal executive decisions being made may impact the demand for solar supply.
"Homeowners who are aware of the funds, many who were planning on using them through our education or their own education, now they're having to rethink financing-wise, are they able to do the improvements they were hoping to," Lazareck said.
Congresswoman Susie Lee also weighed in sending us the following statement:
It’s illegal for Trump to freeze federal investments that were already signed into law and he will be fought in court. Let me be clear: Trump’s federal cash grab and tariffs will jack up costs for working Nevadans so he can give payouts and tax breaks to billionaires. Slashing solar investments in Nevada is just the beginning of Trump’s unconstitutional presidential power trip.
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