Indefinite withholding of money for a federal program, contract, or grant

• My organization had to terminate a program that it offered to beneficiaries
• My organization had to furlough or terminate one or more paid positions
• My organization had to close its doors (temporarily or permanently)

The Executive Order “Unleashing American Energy” has rung the death knell for a $31 million project to install resilient, battery-backed solar for very-low income and medically vulnerable homes in Puerto Rico. Barrio Eléctrico (BE) had a contract with the DOE under the Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF). It also relied upon EPA Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds and Treasury payments in lieu of the solar investment tax credit. All of these committed sources of federal funding were halted indefinitely just 2 days after Trump took office. Future payments and the continuation of the PR-ERF are uncertain and unpredictable. In just 6 short weeks, BE’s entire operations -- and the employees, beneficiaries, and local solar industry relying on it – will be an epitaph if it does not receive the payments it has been earning under its DOE contract or have access to the ancillary funding from EPA loans and Treasury earned tax credits. In short, the program and BE as an organization will cease to exist.