Solar advocates warn EPA cuts to solar energy send Arizona backwards amid energy demands

[Thiệu Ngô]

With Arizona’s abundance of sunshine, advocates for solar energy are worried that the Environmental Protection Agency’s plan to cut the $7 billion Solar for All program is sending the state and country backwards, right when energy demands are as high as the summer temperatures.

By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy

State Rep. Sarah Liguori, D-Phoenix, along with advocates for the solar industry held a press conference outside of a Phoenix home Tuesday afternoon that utilizes solar energy to underscore the importance of the technology.

“This is the wrong direction for our country and definitely the wrong direction for our sunshine state,” Liguori said of the EPA’s proposed cut.

Shortly after the passage of President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” this summer, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the Solar for All program, and other clean energy initiatives, would be cut.

Trump’s $3.4 trillion deficit-boosting tax cut and spending package also cuts a number of federal tax cuts for residential solar users who will have until the end of year to take advantage of the 30% federal tax credit — an average of $9,000 in savings — to install solar panels.

The credit, which was created in 2022 by the Inflation Reduction Act, was originally set to expire in July 2036, but the Republican budget bill takes specific aim at a number of clean energy initiatives included in the IRA, which was one of President Joe Biden’s key legislative victories.

In Arizona, energy efficiency is key to homeowners during the summer months and can curb energy bills, which are increasing for many people, as the impacts of climate change are leading to intensely high temperatures.

The cuts also are estimated to cost the state approximately $58 billion and 69,000 jobs due to the loss of many projects, according to the Arizona Commerce Authority.

Liguori urged the EPA to rethink what she said is an “unlawful” decision to halt the program which included getting rid of $156 million in grants already established for Arizona. That included a $25 million grant to the Hopi Tribe that would have aided in the creation of solar panels and battery storage for homes on the Hopi Reservation for approximately 600 homes.

Last week, Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes joined nearly two dozen other states in a lawsuit that argues the decision to end Solar for All is unlawful and that the EPA is breaching its contract with the states in doing so.

Luis Avila, the homeowner whose house Ligouri and others rallied in front of on Tuesday, said that installing solar panels allowed him to put money back into his business and the community. Avila is the President of Iconico, a consulting firm that works with left-leaning causes.

“That cash that could be in the community impacts my ability to attract people,” Avila said, referring to the construction and other jobs that solar advocates have warned are at risk by the cuts.

But it isn’t just about jobs — it is also about the future of the power grid, according to Joy Seitz, president and CEO of American Solar and Roofing.

The U.S. and the world are currently undergoing a data center boom, due largely in part to artificial intelligence. Those data centers are putting a strain on utility companies who are struggling to figure out how exactly to keep the lights on, with some proposals in Arizona around the topic even considering co-locating small nuclear reactors with them.

With the increase in data center electricity usage expected to continue to rise, some are already starting to use solar power as an alternative to non-renewable sources in order to offset the carbon footprint created by data centers.

“AI is very real, it is putting pressure on our infrastructure,” Seitz said. It is also putting pressure on elected officials, Seitz said, who are trying to figure out how to meet the growing data center demand needed for the AI industry.

The Grand Canyon State is home to 151 data centers and counting — Arizona is No. 7 in the number of data centers nationally — which used more than 1.5 gigawatts of electricity in 2024.

Utility rates in the state have also continued to skyrocket, as customers with Arizona Public Service are anticipated to see a double-digit increase in their rates starting next year, with concerns that Arizona’s booming data center economy could make matters worse for consumers.

To Seitz and Jess White, Arizona program associate at Solar United Neighbors, solar is a way to fill that gap. White called solar energy “one of the cheapest and most democratic” types of energy available today.

But with the Trump administration’s cuts, Seitz said that it feels like “going back to 2005” when the industry was hit with major growing pains and pushback.

“We now have to double down again,” Seitz said, adding that people are seeing utility demand and rates “spiking like a hockey stick,” which may spur some to action.

“We need new blood, we need new representation,” Seitz said.