After months of back and forth on funding for Wisconsin’s solar program and increasing energy demands, solar advocates are pushing forward for solar energy.
In April 2024, Gov. Tony Evers announced that Wisconsin received a $62 million grant from the Biden administration for residential solar systems in low and moderate-income households.
But these plans wouldn’t come to fruition, as the Trump administration terminated the grant in early August 2025.
Eight months later, Wisconsin’s solar program is still recovering from the unexpected cancellation. As data center construction in Wisconsin is expected to raise energy costs in the state, which is already a net energy importer, proponents of the state’s Solar for All program called the administration’s decision short-sighted.
The grant was part of a wider $7 billion initiative by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) known as “Solar for All,” with the intent of bringing local solar power to 900,000 households across the country.
“We were really excited with the $7 billion investment in solar… and obviously equally disappointed when the program was terminated,” John W. Miller, secretary and CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, told The Daily Cardinal. “It really ignores a growing need for clean and renewable energy in Wisconsin. And these funds, obviously, would have done wonders to increase not only our solar footprint in Wisconsin, but also just renewable energy.”
Losing the grant cost Wisconsin households money on energy
The WEDC, the state’s leading economic developing organization entity, worked in conjunction with the EPA to actively set the framework for funding solar-energy projects by spring 2025.
Currently, Wisconsin imports about 10 million megawatt-hours of electricity annually: about 15% of its total consumption. The program would have reduced Wisconsin’s reliance on out-of-state energy, with households saving up to $500 a year on energy bills, according to a letter Evers wrote to EPA administrator Lee Zeldin shortly after the cancellation was announced.
“Wisconsin imports billions of dollars in energy, and we don't want to be in that position,” Miller said. “We would much rather be on the production side than on the receiving side.”
The terminated plans were intended to reduce electricity bills by 20% for 7,463 households across the state over a five-year period, bringing solar power to 1,038 households in single-family homes and 2,200 households in 24 multifamily homes, according to the primary WEDC work plan.
Miller said WEDC had to end positions they already made hires for after the grant cancellation.
“We were greatly concerned because not only had we geared up, we had started to make plans to deploy this money. We had made hires, created plans, [and] done a lot of work,” Miller said.
The loss of job opportunities wasn’t exclusive to Wisconsin. In October 2025, a coalition comprising solar companies, labor unions and homeowners in Rhode Island filed a lawsuit against the EPA for illegally revoking the Solar for All grant without prior congressional approval. State attorneys general in 23 states filed lawsuits, but Wisconsin was not one of them.
WEDC pushes forward with microgrid grant
Despite the financial setback, the WEDC is continuing to move forward in its efforts to install sources of renewable energy and provide jobs across the state.
“We were awarded $62 million out of that $7 billion, and we were ready to deploy it. And that has gone away,” Miller said. “That doesn't mean that we stop. It means that we need to pivot and go in somewhat different directions.”
The WEDC has continued working on community-scale renewable energy projects called microgrids in rural communities, mainly in the northern part of Wisconsin, according to Miller.
Microgrids are distributed energy systems that can be disconnected from the larger grid, powering isolated cities during grid-scale blackouts. They often rely on renewable energy sources, like solar and wind, as well as energy storage systems.
WEDC’s work is in conjunction with the state’s Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy (OSCE), which received a grant in February 2024 from the Department of Energy to build sustainable energy outlets in rural communities and tribal nations.
The Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians and the Vernon County Energy District are among the program’s recipients.
WEDC’s solar energy efforts rely on legislative support
Wisconsin’s renewable energy future hinges on financial support from state and national governments.
In his 2025-27 biennial budget report, Evers proposed a Green Innovation Fund which would allocate $50 million to renewable energy investment. But the Republican-controlled legislature shot it down.
“That would’ve helped the state support energy efficiency products and renewable energy products, particularly for businesses — which is what the WEDC is involved with — and underserved communities,” Miller said. “Unfortunately, the legislature run by Republicans removed the funding request and it did not come through in the final bill.”
Rural communities have been largely receptive to renewable energy implementation, according to Miller.
“Last week, I was in Ashland County, about as far north as you can get. I was visiting the Bad River Tribe, and they want to provide power to new housing with the new solar grid,” Miller said. “They would’ve been a prime candidate to receive some funds had those federal funds not been cut, but they still want to move forward with it.”
He said the overarching support from local officials for solar grid implementation reflects a larger desire to safeguard and promote job growth and cost-management.
“To me, it shows that as energy and especially electricity becomes a greater premium, communities don’t want to go without it,” Miller said. “So they’re looking for ways to supplement larger production with their own smaller production, and [solar] is one great example.”
As the Trump administration rolls back solar efforts across the nation, groups like the WEDC continue to push for renewable energy.
“We're going to do whatever we can within the programs that we have to continue to work on renewable energy. We will continue on,” Miller said. “I'm hopeful that a future administration and a future Congress will restore that funding, or potentially litigation in the courts. If and when that happens, we have many plans to deploy those funds.”
