WASHINGTON (AP) — More than $150 million in federal funding has been clawed back from the Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF), the state’s “green bank” that facilitates financing for clean energy projects in the state.

The $156 million cut is part of a move by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that on Thursday terminated a $7 billion grant program intended to help pay for residential solar projects for more than 900,000 lower-income U.S. households, in the latest Trump administration move hindering the nation’s shift to cleaner energy.

The funding, part of the Biden-era’s Solar for All program, was awarded to 60 recipients, including states, tribes and regions for investments such as rooftop solar and community solar gardens. Solar, a renewable energy, is widely regarded as a way to introduce cleaner power onto the electrical grid and lower energy bills for American consumers.

The cut will pause NCEF’s efforts to provide financing for home, commercial and multi-family housing rooftop solar projects and support workforce development, according to the organization. The program would have helped more than 50,000 Nevadans and created nearly 1,000 new jobs, according to NCEF.

Although NCEF does what CEO Kirsten Stasio described as “braiding multiple sources of funding together to fill gaps in accessing clean energy opportunities for Nevadans,” she said the cut to Solar for All “is a real hit.” 

“They’re letting down 50,000 Nevadans,” Stasio told The Nevada Independent. 

NCEF had already invested nearly $1 million of the Solar for All funds in a facility utilized by a Northern Nevada nonprofit that provides transitional housing for women. 

Under Republican President Donald Trump, officials have pursued dozens of deregulatory measures related to federal rules intended to protect clean air and water. Last week, the EPA proposed rescinding the agency’s “endangerment finding,” which serves as the scientific and legal basis for regulating planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

The administration has taken steps to bolster fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas as it pursues American “energy dominance in the global market.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a statement on social media that authority for the solar program was eliminated under the tax-and-spending law signed by Trump last month. It eliminated the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, approved under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, that set aside $20 billion for community development projects to boost renewable energy, and an additional $7 billion for the solar program.

“The bottom line is this: EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or the appropriated funds to keep this boondoggle alive,″ Zeldin said. “Today, the Trump EPA is announcing that we are ending Solar for All for good, saving US taxpayers ANOTHER $7 BILLION!”

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who introduced the Solar for All program to cut electric bills for working families, said Zeldin’s action was illegal.

NCEF says the grant funds are legally obligated to the fund and the termination violates EPA’s own terms and conditions. Earlier this year, a funding freeze was put in place on Solar for All funds that a judge later ordered unfrozen. 

Stasio said she expects further legal action with this latest move.

“We see this as a temporary setback,” she said. “It’s not over.”