Federal cut ends $25M Hopi solar plan, imperils 600‑home hookup
The Hopi Tribe had been awarded a $25 million Solar for All grant to install solar panels and batteries to electrify about 600 homes, but the EPA terminated the Solar for All awards and a new law (the "One Big Beautiful Bill") ends key tax credits for large renewable projects after set 2026–27 deadlines. As a result, Hopi leaders—including Chairman Tim Nuvangyaoma—say the tribe will have to shrink plans to power roughly 100 homes from alternative Tribal Electrification Program funding and reassess who receives electricity, affecting infrastructure, health and economic prospects on the reservation and signaling broader consequences for tribal clean‑energy projects nationwide.
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📌 Key Facts
- The Hopi were approved for a $25 million Solar for All grant to install solar panels and battery storage for about 600 homes on the reservation.
- On Aug. 7, 2025 the Environmental Protection Agency sent termination letters to Solar for All awardees, ending the program as the administration called it 'wasteful.'
- Because the One Big Beautiful Bill ends tax credits for large renewable projects if construction begins after July 4, 2026 or the project isn't placed into service by Dec. 31, 2027, the tribe says it cannot rely on the previous financing model and now expects to power about 100 homes using a smaller Tribal Electrification Program grant.
- An estimated 54,000 tribal members nationwide still lack electricity; nearly 3,000 Hopi residents live more than a mile from existing distribution and lack grid access.
- Direct quote from Hopi Chairman Tim Nuvangyaoma: 'The rug gets pulled out from them.'