When President Donald Trump’s administration turned out the lights on the federal government’s $7 billion Solar for All program Aug. 7, it spelled the end of a $2.8 million grant to help Akron residents afford energy costs.
Director of Sustainability and Resiliency Casey Shevlin speaks during a city budget meeting March 4 at Akron City Hall.
As one of 60 grant recipients, Akron was set to use the funds to to install solar infrastructure on roughly 370 homes, Director of Sustainability and Resiliency Casey Shevlin said. The Biden-era program, she said, would’ve reduced participating households’ utility bills by approximately $400 annually on average and lower the region’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“So, for each household, the annual greenhouse gas reduction impact of switching to solar energy would have been like not driving a car for five months of the year — the equivalent of that annually,” Shevlin said.
Akron’s program, which had yet to launch or receive applications, was to have been financed entirely through the federal grant, Shevlin said.
While subsidies for solar were struck down, Akron electric customers have been told to expect to pay higher rates to utility whose profits are climbing.
FirstEnergy warned in April that most customers would see an increase in their electric bills beginning in June.
FirstEnergy’s most recent earnings report states that the company made $268 million in the second-quarter of 2025, up from $45 million at the same time last year — an increase of $223 million.
Solar program was aimed at low- to moderate-income households
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website states the Solar For All program would’ve created “opportunities for Ohio’s residential customers in low- to moderate-income households and disadvantaged communities, achieve meaningful energy savings, relieve high levels of energy burden, and improve air quality and economic prosperity in traditionally underserved areas of Ohio.”
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the program’s cancellation on X on Aug. 7.
“The One Big Beautiful Bill eliminated the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund,” said Zeldin, “which included a $7 billion pot called ‘Solar for All.’”
Akron Mayor Shammas Malik signed on to a letter alongside the mayors of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton condemning the program’s abrupt cancellation.
“Terminating Solar for All funding, including grants already awarded, is harmful,” the letter said. “It strips away critical planned resources for home energy upgrades, including rooftop solar, to address energy affordability in our communities. We urge the Trump Administration and Administrator Zeldin to preserve the Solar for All program so that we can reduce the rising energy bills faced by Ohioans and all Americans.”
“I was thrilled about this program for Akron,” Shevlin said, “and I’m really heartbroken that it’s been canceled.”
“This grant was only a good thing,” she said, “to be able to help residents reduce their utility bills, to get our city more familiar with solar energy, to hopefully spark adoption at market rate beyond this grant, to reduce greenhouse gas.”
Contact reporter Derek Kreider at DKreider@Gannett.com or 330-541-9413.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Feds rescind Akron’s Solar for All money, scuttles program nationwide