In early July, when most Americans were celebrating Independence Day, Bret Biggart was making plans to keep his Texas-based solar energy company from going dark. The Trump administration had just adopted the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which fundamentally altered tax and spending policies in the United States, including phasing out federal tax credits for clean energy. 

Biggart, who has worked in the solar industry for over two decades, was alarmed. Just a few years ago, the Biden administration had done the opposite by raising solar tax credits to 30% for homeowners and businesses — increasing interest, accessibility and market for solar energy. But now, Biggart prepared for that momentum to plunge in 2026. 

“A lot of people are trying to install solar right now, because once you roll into January you won’t get the credit,” said Biggart, CEO of Freedom Solar Power, a residential solar installation company based in Austin. “I would say once that credit is gone, the solar market is going to go down by 30% to 40%.”
 

Join our email list to get the stories that mainstream news is overlooking.
Sign up for Capital & Main’s newsletter.

 
Solar energy has been on the rise in Texas for decades, but a dramatic shift in renewable federal policy and funding has left the industry unstable and industry actors like Biggart uncertain of the future. As a consequence, incentives that made solar energy installation and employment attractive, accessible and affordable have vaporized across the state — throwing a wrench in the growing market. 

Before Donald Trump took office a second time, the Biden administration increased the renewable energy tax credit from 20% to 30%, and created Solar for All — a $7 billion federal fund designed to expand solar energy access to disadvantaged communities across the country through the administration’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. 

However, in an effort to halt the growth of renewable energy in favor of the oil and gas industry, the Trump administration is phasing out the tax credit by January 2026 and eliminating Solar for All — stripping recipients of any initially awarded funds. This includes nearly $250 million for California, $156 million for Pennsylvania and $400 million for Texas. 

Experts, officials and businesses across the country have sounded alarm bells over the impact these funding and policy changes will have on the solar industry. In Texas, Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee sued the Trump administration and Environmental Protection Agency in October, arguing that the administration’s decision to claw back the money is unlawful. In the meantime, the funding remains frozen. As for the loss of tax credits, solar companies like Biggart’s are in a kind of purgatory, fighting to stay afloat for the foreseeable future. 

“We have more projects than we can literally fill a schedule, and we’re hiring like crazy and trying to get these projects done,” Biggart said. “But there’s this cliff and how far is the cliff, and how gnarly it is, is sort of to be determined.” 

Accessible Solar

Despite being home to one of the largest petrochemical industries in the world, Texas has a large and growing renewable energy market. 

The state is third in solar jobs behind California and Florida, and employment in the solar industry has increased by nearly 30% between 2018 and 2023, according to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. And, recent reporting by the United States Energy Information Administration found that in Texas, utility-scale solar — which is solar energy sold directly to the state electrical grid — generated 50% more energy within the first nine months of 2025 than in the same period in 2024, and nearly four times more than in the same period in 2021. 

However, the state is not as far along when it comes to nonutility-scale residential installation and community solar programs, according to Margaret Cook, vice president of water and community resilience at the Houston Advanced Research Center, a nonprofit focused on sustainable development and science. 

“We have little problems in Texas getting those large [utility-scale] installations and the jobs associated with that,” Cook said. “Our single family, multifamily, our commercial and residential solar industries are not as robust and they are seeing a lot of turnover, downsizing of companies.” 

Solar for All was meant to help close that gap by expanding energy access to low-income and disadvantaged communities across Texas through various partnerships and programs. The eventual goal was to lower energy costs and create local job opportunities in the industry — meaning more affordable and accessible solar energy. 

With the federal program in place, solar companies prepared for a huge influx of work by hiring more people to get ready for the expected increase in business. Now, Cook said those are sunk costs since none of the companies will be receiving the grant money they were promised. 

And it wasn’t just Solar for All. Other renewable energy funding eliminated or halted left numerous programs without funding. 

The Black United Fund of Texas — a nonprofit housed in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward — had expected millions in funding from the federal government for a local solar installation training program through several EPA environmental justice and resiliency grants. The organization had already hired instructors and started its first class. But all the funds it initially received have been frozen or eliminated, and the organization had to search for new funding. 

“Trust is a big thing in low-income communities because everyone comes in promising so many things, and usually they don’t see anything directly change or impact them,” said Velika Thomas, chief financial officer for the Black United Fund. 

Some of the students were able to graduate from the first class, but weren’t able to continue to the next phases, said Thomas. Those students got jobs at a local solar installation company, but the organization is still searching for more funding for future students. 

The same type of whiplash left companies like Biggart’s pivoting on the spot after the tax credit ended. Originally, Biggart could breathe a sigh of relief. The 30% credit the Biden administration adopted would last 10 years, until 2032. It meant he could plan how the market would look for the next several years. But after July, all that planning and relief went out the window. 

Freedom Solar is now rebranding as Freedom Power, Biggart said. The company launched a heating, ventilation and air conditioning installation business and a generator business in addition to the solar installation and battery business. Two years ago, Freedom Solar had 1,000 employees. This year, it has 400. 

“It’s sort of like riding a bull a little bit,” Biggart said. “There are a lot of ups and downs in the solar industry.” 

Bringing Solar Back

Before the Trump administration cut funds, Harris County — a leader in Solar for All in Texas — was planning for 4,300 projects across Texas that would aid 30,000 low-income households through the initiative, according to the Office of County Attorney Menefee. He sued the Trump administration and the EPA in October. 

Initially, when the Big Beautiful Bill passed in early July, the administration repealed only the unobligated funds — the funds that had not yet been distributed. This came to only $19 million out of the total $7 billion allocation and wasn’t deemed a massive concern, said Menefee. 

“But then in August this year, the EPA administrator announced that Solar for All, all $7 billion, would be eliminated,” Menefee said. “So that’s when we started getting ready to take action, which is what led to the lawsuit.” 

In an August statement, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said that the EPA no longer has the statutory authority to administer the program or to access the appropriated funds to “keep this boondoggle alive.” 

Menefee disagrees. The Constitution and the laws of this country don’t allow a president to unilaterally eliminate a program that was appropriated by Congress and for which the funds have been fully obligated, he said. And Texas isn’t the only state taking action: nearly two dozen other states have also sued the Trump administration over Solar for All. 

Experts point out that the administration’s move against solar and renewable energy is contrary to market demands. Solar is still on the rise in Texas, especially for the large utility-scale companies, said Cook, the vice president of the Houston Advanced Research Center.

Energy prices across Texas are also increasing, widening the gap that already exists between those who can afford electricity and those who struggle to pay the bills. For years, renewable energy, like solar, has been a growing solution to this concern since solar has proven to be more cost effective than traditional energy in the long term — at least for those who can pay the upfront installation cost. 

In this new economy, the administration isn’t limiting access for everyone in the same way, said Cook. Solar is moving forward, but it’s leaving people behind at the same time. 

“Texas has a lot of sun, a lot of land. It makes a lot of sense to do a utility-scale project in [the state]. It’s just very economically advantageous,” Cook said. “But Solar for All is for people to access what they might never have had access to without this program.”

Copyright 2025 Capital & Main