Lawsuit alleges USDA illegally slashed rural solar development program

A group of environmental law organizations and a solar installer have sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture, arguing it illegally gutted a program that funds solar and other clean energy projects for farmers and rural small businesses. The program, called the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), offers grants and loan guarantees and has been around since 2002. Last August, the USDA said it would stop funding solar panels on farmland, and it later rewrote the rules and stopped processing REAP applications, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court. The department is now requiring even previously approved applicants to reapply under the new rules before getting their funding.

This case mostly concerns farmers and rural business owners who applied for REAP money, not typical homeowners. But it is part of a wider pattern of the current administration pulling back federal support for solar and renewable projects, following a similar fight over the EPA's Solar for All program, which two federal judges have already ordered restored. If you live in a rural area and were counting on REAP for a solar project on your property or business, it is worth knowing the program's future is now tied up in this lawsuit, with no funding moving until the case is resolved. For homeowners elsewhere, this is a reminder that federal rules around clean energy incentives keep shifting, so it makes sense to check on the current status of any program before counting on it.