Ramifications from a funding freeze by the Trump administration in late January are being felt locally.
“We’re going to run out of work in about two weeks,” said Daniel Zywietz, co-founder of SEK Solar.
Zyweitz originally had plans to hire two or three more employees to help with 35 upcoming solar projects.
Since a federal funding freeze was announced on Jan. 20, these projects have been on hold.
“I’ve told my existing guys they’ve got about two more weeks until the projects that we have are finished,” he explained. “And, at the moment, that’s it.”
A host of southeast Kansas businesses were named recipients of the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Grow at Eden, Sonic Drive-In, and Iola Pharmacy, Inc. were three local businesses set to receive grants to go toward installing solar panels.
Statewide, 54 projects were slated to receive grants, totaling almost $6 million in investments.
The executive order signed by President Donald Trump immediately paused the disbursement of funds under the landmark federal climate and energy laws passed during the Biden administration.
The REAP grants have been affected by this order.
The grants are meant to help agricultural producers and small rural business owners expand their use of wind, solar, geothermal, and small hydropower energy through energy efficient improvements. The grant pays 50% of the cost of the solar panels, engineering, and installation.
“There has been no communication from the USDA, whatsoever. They haven’t issued a ‘stop work’ order,” noted Zywietz. He has been a driving force in getting the REAP funds for the region, receiving approval on 35 projects in southeast Kansas. Once approved, his company would then install solar panels for the grant recipients.
With the REAP grants, there are a couple buckets of funding, noted Zywietz. There are those grants that are awarded when the project is completed or under construction. Then there are the awarded “obligated” grants, that haven’t begun construction yet.
“The legal situation for those two could be different,” he said. “The USDA could just send a stop-work order and say they are reviewing the program and that future projects are on hold. They haven’t done that, though.”
Frustrations have risen with this lack of communication. “The only public communication is that there was a funding freeze and a court order to stop that,” said Zywietz. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan blocked the funding freeze only minutes before it was scheduled to take effect. In the days since, AliKhan asserts that President Trump has violated his order to lift the blanket freeze on federal spending.
“If you’re an applicant right now, going ahead with a new project but haven’t started construction, you’d expect some sort of communication,” Zywietz continued. “Legally speaking, the USDA hasn’t told you to stop. I don’t understand this strategy — I’m not sure there is one.”
