Why Sunpath Went to Court for Solar for All
A federal court has ruled that EPA unlawfully terminated the Solar for All program. Sunpath Solar has been proud to join the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), Lawyers for Good Government, and fellow plaintiffs fighting to restore the program designed to bring the benefits of solar to families across Georgia and the country.
On September 18, the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island ruled in favor of Sunpath Solar and our fellow plaintiffs in Rhode Island AFL-CIO, et al. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The court granted our motion for summary judgment, denied EPA’s cross-motion, and concluded that EPA unlawfully terminated the Solar for All program.
Most importantly, the court vacated EPA’s termination of Solar for All.
For Sunpath, this case has always been about much more than a federal grant program. It is about whether communities that have historically had the least access to clean energy will have an opportunity to participate in the energy transition — and whether the companies, nonprofits, workers, and community organizations that prepared to deliver on that promise can rely on commitments from the Federal Government that have already been made.
“We joined this case because Solar for All represents exactly the kind of energy transition we believe in — one where the economic benefits of clean energy reach every community. We’re grateful to SELC and Lawyers for Good Government for standing with us and for the extraordinary work they put into this case. Today’s ruling gives us hope that we can get back to doing what this program was created to do: putting people to work, lowering families’ energy bills, and building solar projects in communities across Georgia.” Seth Gunning, Sunpath Solar CEO
Why Sunpath joined this lawsuit
Solar for All was created as a $7 billion national investment to bring affordable solar energy to low-income and disadvantaged communities. EPA competitively awarded and obligated the full $7 billion before the statutory deadline, including $156 million for the Georgia Solar for All program, commonly known as Georgia BRIGHT.
Our connection to Georgia BRIGHT began well before the federal Solar for All award. Sunpath served as a primary solar contractor in the original Georgia BRIGHT pilot program, working alongside Capital Good Fund and its partners to demonstrate that an innovative nonprofit solar financing model could successfully bring solar and battery storage to low- and moderate-income households and community organizations across Georgia.
That pilot became an important proof of concept for what Georgia BRIGHT could become at a much larger scale. It demonstrated that these projects could be financed, designed, built, and maintained while delivering real energy savings and resilience to families and organizations that had historically faced barriers to accessing solar. The lessons and results from that work helped inform the much larger vision Georgia BRIGHT ultimately put forward through the federal Solar for All program.
From pilot to statewide program
In April 2024, that vision received a transformational opportunity to scale when the Georgia BRIGHT coalition was awarded approximately $156 million through Solar for All to expand the program statewide.
For Sunpath, that meant moving from helping prove the concept to preparing to deliver it at scale for tens of thousands of Georgia families.
We made hiring decisions, invested in vehicles and equipment, upgraded software and internal systems, increased insurance coverage, developed new operating procedures, responded to program solicitations, and committed substantial staff time and resources in preparation for the work ahead.
But our investment in Solar for All was never only about the work it represented for Sunpath.
We had already seen firsthand what the Georgia BRIGHT model could do. Families who had historically been excluded from rooftop solar could lower their energy costs and gain access to battery-backed resilience. Nonprofits could invest
more of their resources in their missions instead of utility bills. And local solar companies could create good-paying jobs while building clean-energy infrastructure in communities across the state.
So when EPA abruptly terminated Solar for All in August 2025, we felt a responsibility to stand up not just for a program we had helped build, but for the hundreds of families we had worked with who were waiting on the opportunity to take control of rising energy costs
We became a plaintiff.
Why this decision matters
Solar for All was designed to address one of the biggest challenges facing the clean-energy transition: access.
Families with limited disposable income may not have tens of thousands of dollars available for a solar installation. Traditional financing may be unavailable or unattractive. Older homes may need costly roof or electrical upgrades before installers can add solar. Renters and residents of affordable multifamily housing face entirely different barriers. Lower-income households may also struggle to benefit from federal tax incentives that wealthier households can more easily use.
Solar for All tackles those barriers.
Nationally, the program anticipated reaching roughly 900,000 households while supporting new solar deployment, workforce development, community ownership models, and energy savings.
Here in Georgia, that means something tangible. Households can gain access to solar that helps lower and stabilize rising utility costs. Local contractors can hire new workers, and more people can train for careers in clean energy. More energy dollars can also remain in Georgia communities.
For a Georgia-based company like Sunpath, that is the kind of energy transition we exist to help build.
What comes next for Sunpath
Our focus now turns back to where it started: getting projects built.
We will be working with our partners in Georgia to understand the next steps for Georgia BRIGHT, determine when program activity can resume, and prepare our team to serve the households that have been waiting.
We also intend to keep advocating for a solar industry that serves more than the customers who can most easily afford it.
Sunpath was founded around a simple idea: the transition to a new energy economy should create opportunity broadly. That means lower electricity costs. It means good l
ocal jobs. It means resilient homes and communities. And it means ensuring that public investments in clean energy actually reach the people they were created to serve.
Joining this lawsuit was not something we expected to be part of that work.
But when the future of Solar for All
was put in jeopardy, we believed it was important to stand up — not only for our company, but for our employees, our partners, our customers, and the communities this program was created to serve.
We are deeply appreciative of the Southern Environmental Law Center, Lawyers for Good Government, our fellow plaintiffs, and everyone who has continued working to keep the promise of Solar for All alive. SELC and L4GG have continued pursuing restoration of Solar for All through multiple legal avenues as the federal litigation landscape has evolved.
Today’s ruling is a major milestone.
Now, we’re ready to get back to work.
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