WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) released the following statement regarding reporting that the Trump Administration is planning to terminate $156 million in federal grant funding to Virginia, which was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that the senators helped pass, to help people cut their energy costs by installing solar panels on their roofs: 

“We were proud to vote for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which helped attract hundreds of millions of dollars in clean-energy investments to Virginia and put us on the path to create more than 20,000 new jobs in the Commonwealth alone. Donald Trump’s decision to rip up that legislation with his ‘Big, Ugly Bill,’ was a short-sighted mistake. Now he’s making it even worse by eliminating funding designed to help Virginians cut their energy costs by harnessing affordable energy sources. Between Trump’s tariffs on everyday goods, his efforts to kick 15 million people off of their health insurance, and this new decision to put lower energy prices further out of reach for American families, it’s clear that the President’s promises to lower costs are nothing but cheap talk.”

The $156 million in funding for solar projects in Virginia was distributed to the Virginia Department of Energy. The investment was aimed to deliver solar to 15,430 households and was expected to cut those households’ average utility bills by 20 percent. Total savings differ based on location and system size, but on average, U.S. homeowners are estimated to save $50,000 over 25 years after installing rooftop solar panels. This funding is part of $7 billion in funding from the IRA to support rooftop and community solar deployment nationwide that is reportedly at risk of being terminated. 

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