Drastic changes to federal government policies pertaining to renewable energy have hurt efforts to bring reliable electricity to remote, rural areas, including Tribal communities, according to NPR. 

What's happening?

The current administration's U-turn on many renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, has not only resulted in the early termination of billions of dollars in funding for things like home solar panels and electric vehicles — it has also caused the cancellation of large-scale solar and wind projects. 

Many of these projects were intended to bring electricity to remote, rural, and low-income areas where people have inequitable access to the electrical grid, often relying on gas generators to power refrigerators and even life-saving medical equipment.

This is the case on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona, where thousands of people do not have access to electricity. Even for those connected to the electrical grid, the electricity is not reliable, with Native lands experiencing 6.5 times more power outages than the national average, according to NPR. 

Using funding under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and other federal programs, the Hopi Reservation had planned to install a large solar array with battery storage, finally bringing dependable electricity to the community. However, with the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and other policy changes, the funding the Tribe had already been approved to receive has now been stripped away. 

"This bill [OBBB] hurts the Hopi Tribe and it hurts rural and remote communities, because it makes it harder to develop energy projects in these communities," Fletcher Wilkinson, energy manager at Hopi Utilities Corporation, told NPR. 

Without the federal government providing the capital necessary to get such projects underway, these communities have little chance of creating the energy infrastructure they need to power homes and build up local economies. 

"Eliminating these clean energy programs within the IRA isn't just bad policy," Wahleah Johns, who formerly headed the Department of Energy's Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, told the news outlet. "It's a betrayal of the federal government's trust, responsibility to Tribes."

Why is it important?

This major loss of funding for the Hopi Reservation's solar project is just one example of how recent and sudden changes to renewable energy policy have not only meant a significant step back in the clean energy transition but also in the fight for equitable and affordable electricity access.

"It's not that it's gonna kill their project, 'cause it's gonna kill every project," Pilar Thomas told NPR. Thomas is a lawyer specializing in Tribal energy and economic development law and a member of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Arizona.

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According to a 2023 report from the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, and cited by NPR, approximately 54,000 Tribal members across the U.S. lack access to power. 

Reliable access to electricity could mean the potential for economic development in low-income communities — some impacted by a long history of land theft as well as marginalization from modern resources. Electricity access also means health, safety, and well-being — perhaps never more so than in rural areas, where receiving weather alerts and operating at-home medical devices, far from essential services, is especially critical. 

What's being done about it?

Lawyers representing the reservations have argued that the funding for the Tribal renewable energy projects had already been obligated, making it illegal for those funds to be withdrawn. 

"All of the grant money was fully obligated," Thomas said. "Congress cannot rescind obligated funds."

On October 6, a coalition of nonprofits, labor unions, solar companies, and more filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its termination of grants under the Solar for All program, according to the New York Times. In total, Solar for All had promised $7 billion to 49 organizations, six Tribes, and five states, NPR reported. Attorneys working on behalf of affected Tribes and communities hope this legal action could see the funding restored so that the already-developed plans for much-needed energy infrastructure can move ahead.

With such hopes still alive, those who wish to weigh in on the importance of funding for equitable energy access can use their voices, contact elected representatives, and support candidates who champion funding for cleaner, renewable, more affordable energy systems in rural and Tribal communities.

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