When Promises Become Photons: The Solar for All Story Nobody’s Talking About
Or: How to Turn $7 Billion in Hope into a Single 20-Panel Array
Context Matters
Definition Check: When politicians say “rescinding unobligated funds,” they mean “taking back money that was already promised but not yet spent.” When lawyers say those funds were actually “obligated,” they mean “you signed a contract, mate.” The difference between these two definitions is currently being argued in four separate lawsuits. The legal system will eventually decide which definition matters. (I hope so anyway—it gets really confusing nowadays.)
The Facts, No Spin
Here’s what happened, in the order it happened:
2022: Congress passes the Inflation Reduction Act. Included: $7 billion for “Solar for All,” a program to bring solar panels to low-income households across America.
April 2024: EPA awards grants to 60 recipients—state agencies, tribal coalitions, and nonprofits. A 14-tribe coalition on the Northern Plains gets $135 million. Rocky Boy’s Reservation (Chippewa Cree) gets $7.6 million of that.
Fall 2024: First and only solar array goes up on Rocky Boy’s. Twenty panels. One house. Monthly electric bill drops from $200-300 to nearly nothing. Forty more households apply. Economic development starts: hiring plans, training programs, local solar businesses in the works.
January 20, 2025: President Trump signs executive order freezing IRA funds. Courts block it. Money flows again.
July 4, 2025: Trump signs the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (actual name). Among many other things, it “rescinds unobligated funds for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.”
August 7, 2025: EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announces on social media: “Today, the Trump EPA is announcing that we are ending Solar for All for good, saving US taxpayers ANOTHER $7 BILLION!”
August 8-11, 2025: EPA begins sending termination letters and withdrawing funds from grantee accounts. Indigenized Energy lays off half its staff. Training programs cancel. Donica Brady, who spent years building trust in her Northern Cheyenne community, loses her job. She goes back to driving a school bus and skinning deer in her garage at night.
October-November 2025: Four separate lawsuits filed. Twenty-two state attorneys general sue in the Court of Federal Claims for breach of contract. Three other suits filed in federal district courts arguing EPA exceeded its authority and violated the Administrative Procedure Act and Constitution.
February 2026: Lawsuits still pending. Rocky Boy’s Reservation still has one solar array. The rest of America’s 900,000 low-income households that were promised solar? Still waiting.
Layer 1: What’s the Obvious Answer? (Surface Thinking)
Government program gets cut. Happens all the time. Political parties have different priorities. New administration, new agenda. Move along, nothing to see here.
Layer 2: What Am I Missing? (Blind Spot Angles)
The Economics That Don’t Add Up:
Rural electricity costs: $200-900/month on reservations
35% poverty rate on Rocky Boy’s (US average: 12.4%)
Median household value on reservation: $65,200 (US: $303,400)
Cost of residential solar system: ~$14,210 before incentives
Annual savings from solar: $400-1,000+ per household
Math problem: If you’re choosing between electricity and food, how do you afford a $14,000 solar system?
The Sovereignty Paradox: Treaties promised tribal nations sovereignty in exchange for their traditional lands. Sovereignty requires self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency requires resources. Resources have been systematically removed. Energy costs are among the highest in the nation on reservations. Energy independence is one path back to actual sovereignty.
“We don’t want handouts,” they say over and over. But without the infrastructure investment that built out the rest of rural America, what other options exist?
The Trust Factor: Tina Cady, Northern Cheyenne elder: “I have seen them do this before. You get so you don’t trust anybody anymore.”
Not because of this program. Because of all the programs before this one. The pattern recognition isn’t paranoia—it’s experience.
The Jobs That Weren’t: The program wasn’t just about free panels. It was workforce development:
Solar installation training
Pre-apprenticeship certification
Career services, resume building, interview coaching
Economic development: offices, managers, installers
Young people talking about starting their own solar businesses
Zane Patacsil: “It was very disheartening to hear that news, because we lost all of that with it.”
The Energy Access Gap: Some tribal lands—even where coal and uranium were extracted—still have homes without electricity. The Navajo Nation had significant numbers of homes with no power until the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority sought grants and loans to extend service.
The land gave its resources. The resources went elsewhere. The residents paid the highest electricity rates in the nation.
Layer 3: What Question Should I Actually Be Asking? (Reframe)
Not: “Did Trump cancel a solar program?”
But: “What does it cost to repeatedly break promises to communities that have already adapted their expectations to account for broken promises?”
Emotional cost: “I was getting ready to take off,” said Joseph Eagleman.
Economic cost: 900,000 low-income households nationwide × $400 annual savings = $350 million/year in collective savings, gone.
Trust cost: Immeasurable, but Tina Cady has a working metric.
Political cost: To be determined in four courtrooms.
Dimensional Storytelling: Three Perspectives on the Same Panel
The Administrator’s View: “EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive.” Translation: Congress changed the rules, we’re following them. $7 billion saved.
The Lawyer’s View: “The bill only rescinded unobligated grant funds. The money was already obligated through signed contracts. Taking back obligated funds is illegal.” Translation: You can’t rescind what was already spent in the legal sense, even if the physical money hasn’t moved yet.
The View From Rocky Boy’s: One solar array. Population 3,300. Forty applications. One and a half hours from the nearest city. A cafe/casino/bar/gas station, a school, a skate park. “There’s not a lot of opportunities, except for leaving the reservation.”
All three views are technically accurate. Which one is true?
An Absurdist Sketch (As the Monty Python Boys Might Stage It)
Scene: A government office. Two bureaucrats, JENKINS and PATTERSON, stand before a map dotted with pins.
JENKINS: Right, so we’ve rescinded the unobligated funds.
PATTERSON: Excellent. How much did we save?
JENKINS: Seven billion dollars!
PATTERSON: Marvelous. And what did we do with the obligated funds?
JENKINS: Well, technically those were the same funds.
PATTERSON: I see. And did we rescind them or not rescind them?
JENKINS: We rescinded them because they were unobligated.
PATTERSON: But the contracts were signed.
JENKINS: Yes, but the money wasn’t spent yet.
PATTERSON: So the contracts were obligated but the funds were unobligated?
JENKINS: Precisely!
PATTERSON: And the difference is?
JENKINS: About seven billion dollars and four lawsuits.
PATTERSON: Ah. Crystal clear. Tea?
JENKINS: Why not. The obligation for tea remains, even if the funds for biscuits have been rescinded.
[Exeunt, arguing about the metaphysical status of custard creams]
The Players You Should Know
Cody Two Bears - Standing Rock Sioux, founder and CEO of Indigenized Energy
Started his work after the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in 2016. At 26, became the youngest elected tribal council member in Standing Rock’s history. Built North Dakota’s largest solar farm (300kW) three miles from where the pipeline crossed. Not as a protest against something, but as a movement for something: energy sovereignty.
“I wanted to change to a new way for Native communities that would really allow us to stop playing defense so much, but allow us to play offense. We’ve always protested, protested, protested and been against something. But now with this new initiative, Indigenized Energy, it gives us the opportunity to fight for something.”
When Solar for All was cut, Indigenized Energy laid off half its staff. Two Bears says they’re finding private funding and moving forward anyway. Projects lined up in Wisconsin (Menominee Reservation) and South Dakota (Rosebud Sioux).
Donica Brady - Northern Cheyenne, former Solar for All coordinator
Completed solar training through Red Cloud Renewable. Spent years building trust in her community. Lost her job in August 2025, one month before I first met her. When the reporter found her at 9 PM on a Tuesday, she was in her garage skinning a deer her wife had shot, cutting fat and sinew while talking about self-sufficiency.
“I want my people to be able to be self-sufficient, not have to rely on funding or things like that that can be taken away.”
She set aside the tender backstraps to give to her auntie. She talked about solar’s deeper meaning: “People call it progress, but I see it as going back to what we were taught, but in a new way.” Harnessing the sun—an important reflection of Northern Cheyenne culture.
She’s working two jobs now. Still in solar (Freedom Forever, a California company), but no longer on the ground with her community the way she wants.
Joseph Eagleman - CEO, Chippewa Cree Energy Corporation
Standing on a grassy hill on Rocky Boy’s Reservation, looking at the only 20-panel array that got built before the program was terminated. The resident’s electric bill went from $200-300/month to nearly zero.
Had a list of 40 households applying for the first round. Hired Zane Patacsil to install systems one month before the cuts. “It’s terrible. We were getting ready to take off.”
Now looking for other Department of Energy funding, private philanthropic options. Still trying.
Thomasine Woodenlegs - Northern Cheyenne, 50 years in her bright-green house
Electric bills: $400-500/month. Plans to pass the house down to her family but worries: “I’ll need to warn them that the electricity runs like $400 or $500, and they’d have to have a really secure income to live here. Otherwise, they’d be without lights.”
Saw solar panels going up around the reservation from previous grant programs (White River Community Solar Project, Department of Energy funded). Got jealous of friends and acquaintances who received them. Applied through Solar for All. Still waiting.
Tina Cady - Northern Cheyenne, elder and disabled
Worked for Indian Health Service 25 years, now on disability. Fixed income: ~$1,000/month. October 2025 electric bill: $225.13. Husband picks up adjunct hours at tribal college.
Donica Brady told her she was a prime applicant—elder, disabled, owns her land—should be top of the list. Never heard back.
On feeling betrayed by the funding cuts: “I have seen them do this before. You get so you don’t trust anybody anymore.”
What Could We Do Better? (The Practical Section)
The Technology Exists: Residential solar installations work. They’re proven. They’re reliable. The panels on Rocky Boy’s eliminated a $200-300 monthly electric bill. This isn’t experimental technology—it’s just expensive upfront.
The Economics Work:
Average installation cost: $14,210 (before incentives)
Average annual savings: $400 (Solar for All minimum)
Actual savings in high-cost rural areas: $400-$1,000+
Payback period without subsidies: 14-35 years
Payback period with subsidies: 7-12 years
Lifespan of panels: 25-30 years
In other words: The math works, but only if you can afford the upfront cost. Hence: Programs like Solar for All.
The Training Pipeline Works: Red Cloud Renewable has been training Indigenous tribal members in solar installation. Pre-apprenticeship certification. Job placement. Resume building. Interview coaching. People from late teens to late 50s learning marketable skills.
Indigenized Energy has been building this capacity since 2017, starting with North Dakota’s largest solar farm at Standing Rock.
Alternative Approaches:
Community Solar Gardens - Instead of individual rooftop installations, build shared solar farms. Residents subscribe to portions. Lower per-household cost, easier maintenance, works for renters and those without suitable roofs.
Tribal Utility Authorities - Some tribes have created their own utilities (Navajo Tribal Utility Authority being the largest example). Energy sovereignty at the infrastructure level, not just the generation level.
Public-Private Partnership Models - Combine government seed funding with private investment and tribal ownership structures. Grants bootstrap the initial capacity, but long-term sustainability comes from tribal ownership and management.
Microgrids - For remote areas, sometimes the problem isn’t generation but distribution. Microgrids with battery storage can serve clusters of homes more efficiently than extending utility lines.
Workforce Development as Primary Goal - Instead of treating job training as a side benefit, make it the main objective. Build the local capacity first, then the installations follow. Tribes manage their own programs, creating sustained economic development.
What Indigenized Energy Is Actually Doing: Moving forward without federal funds. Finding private funding. Breaking ground on Menominee Reservation (Wisconsin) and Rosebud Sioux projects.
Two Bears: “So even though the money is not there, we’re still finding alternative resources and funding to make these possible and make ‘em feasible. It’s just going to take longer.”
Longer. That word matters. Because meanwhile, electric bills are still $400-900/month. And winters are cold.
The Consequences (Or Not)
Legal Consequences: Four active lawsuits:
Maryland Clean Energy Center et al. v. United States (Court of Federal Claims) - 22 state AGs + DC, breach of contract claim
Rhode Island AFL-CIO et al. v. EPA (District Court, Rhode Island) - APA and constitutional violations
Two other district court cases (details pending oral arguments)
Climate United’s lawsuit moves to oral arguments in February 2026. A coalition of 22 states is seeking an injunction to keep Solar for All funds available.
Outcome: Unknown. Courts will determine whether “unobligated funds” means what the EPA says it means or what the contract lawyers say it means.
Economic Consequences:
900,000 low-income households nationwide: No solar installations
$350 million/year in collective savings: Unrealized
200,000 projected jobs: Not created
30 million metric tons of carbon pollution reduction: Not happening
Political Consequences: Energy prices up 10% nationwide since Trump took office. Campaign promise: Cut energy bills in half. Reality: Programs that would have cut bills by 20% for low-income households have been terminated.
The politics of this will play out in ways I’m not qualified to predict.
Human Consequences: Thomasine Woodenlegs will keep paying $400-500/month for electricity. When she passes her house to family, she’ll warn them about the bills.
Tina Cady will keep waiting. She’s seen this before.
Donica Brady will keep skinning deer in her garage at night, working two jobs, still trying to serve her community just not the way she wanted.
Joseph Eagleman will keep looking for funding. Forty households are still on his list.
Cody Two Bears will keep building. Slower. Longer. But building.
A Little Optimism (Actual, Not Toxic)
Here’s what can’t be taken back:
Proof of Concept: The 20-panel array on Rocky Boy’s works. One house, electric bill eliminated, resident happy. It’s not theoretical. It’s physics meeting policy meeting payment schedules, and it works.
Training Completed: Donica Brady has her certification. Zane Patacsil has his experience. Others in the Red Cloud Renewable pipeline have their skills. That knowledge doesn’t evaporate when funding does.
Network Established: The 14-tribe Northern Plains coalition exists. Indigenized Energy exists. The relationships, trust, and coordination structures built through Solar for All don’t automatically disappear. They’re slower without funding, but they’re not gone.
Legal Principles: Four lawsuits mean four chances for courts to clarify what “obligated funds” means. If even one succeeds, it sets precedent for future programs. The law sometimes works slowly, but case law is cumulative.
Market Forces: Solar is now the cheapest form of new electricity generation globally. That’s not a subsidy talking—it’s basic economics. The technology gets cheaper every year. Private funding, while slower than federal programs, continues to exist.
Pattern Recognition: Every broken promise teaches communities to build backup plans. Indigenized Energy already has private funding for Wisconsin and South Dakota projects. The program taught them to depend less on government programs. (Whether that’s the lesson we wanted to teach is a different question, but it’s the lesson that was learned.)
Cultural Continuity: Donica Brady: “People call it progress, but I see it as going back to what we were taught, but in a new way.” The sun was important before solar panels. It’ll remain important after. The technology connects to something deeper than policy.
Truth Matters (The One We’re Choosing)
I could have written this piece focusing on climate emissions (30 million metric tons unreduced), or partisan politics (Trump vs. Biden programs), or even just renewable energy economics.
But here’s the truth that matters: Promises have weight.
When you promise solar panels to 900,000 low-income households and deliver to one house on Rocky Boy’s Reservation, that’s not a rounding error. It’s a choice.
When you hire someone like Donica Brady, let her build trust in her community for years, then lay her off with a social media announcement, that’s not “fiscal responsibility.” It’s a betrayal with a memo attached.
When Tina Cady says, “I have seen them do this before. You get so you don’t trust anybody anymore,” she’s not being dramatic. She’s being accurate.
The solar panels are technology. The program was policy. But the trust is human. And unlike solar installations or federal funding, broken trust can’t be fixed with new appropriations or private partnerships or court injunctions.
It accumulates. Compounds. Gets passed down like Thomasine Woodenlegs’ bright-green house, along with the warning: “The electricity runs like $400 or $500.”
That’s the cost nobody’s counting. But everybody’s paying.
Further Reading & Sources
Primary Sources:
Indigenized Energy & Tribal Renewable Coalition:
Original Reporting:
Mother Jones: “Native Families Were Promised Free Solar. Trump Took It Away” (Ilana Newman, Feb 9, 2026)
Legal & Policy Analysis:
News Coverage:
NPR: Trump Administration’s EPA Wants to End Solar for All (Aug 8, 2025)
Mississippi Free Press: Trump Kills Mississippi Solar Projects
Related Context (from your links):
The Government Doesn’t Want You to Know About This Tool (context and tools)
Historical Context:
Department of Energy’s Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs
Energy Policy Act of 1992, Title XXVI “Indian Energy”
The Last Word
In a different timeline, this story would be about 200 solar installations on Rocky Boy’s Reservation. Economic development. Job training. Young people starting solar businesses. Electric bills dropping from $900 to manageable. Energy sovereignty, one panel at a time.
Instead, it’s about one 20-panel array, forty applications, and a lot of people doing what they’ve learned to do: adapt to broken promises and keep moving.
Joseph Eagleman is still looking for funding.
Donica Brady is still skinning deer and working two jobs.
Cody Two Bears is still building solar farms, just slower.
Thomasine Woodenlegs is still paying $400-500/month.
Tina Cady is still waiting, having seen this before.
And somewhere in a government office, someone is arguing about whether $7 billion in grants were “obligated” or “unobligated,” while Jenkins and Patterson have tea and debate the metaphysical status of custard creams.
The panels on that one house in Queensville still work, though.
The sun keeps shining.
The bills keep coming.
And trust, once broken, takes longer to rebuild than any solar installation.
Much longer.
If you found this useful, consider sharing it. If you found it frustrating, consider that shared frustration is what eventually becomes political will. And if you’re wondering what you can actually do: support organizations like Indigenized Energy directly, contact your representatives about tribal energy sovereignty, or just remember Tina Cady’s words the next time someone promises something to someone who’s heard promises before.
Truth matters.
🙏