Maryland Clean Energy Center v. United States

The Court of Federal Claims granted the United States’ motion to stay all proceedings in a breach of contract action brought by state recipients of grants under the Solar for All program after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) termination of the program. The United States argued in its motion to stay that principles of judicial economy favored a stay because “a virtually identical group” of state plaintiffs had filed a case in federal district court in Washington seeking a declaration that termination of the Solar for All grants was unlawful. The plaintiffs opposed the stay, contending that the United States was attempting to “have it both ways” by seeking the stay while simultaneously telling the district court that only the Court of Federal Claims had jurisdiction to hear the plaintiffs’ claims. The Court of Federal Claims granted the U.S.’s motion from the bench after oral argument on January 21, 2026 and imposed the stay until April 21, 2026. The court directed the parties to file a status report by April 13 addressing progress in the district court litigation and steps the Court of Federal Claims must take in this case.

State recipients of grants under the Solar for All program filed a breach of contract action in the Court of Federal Claims alleging that EPA’s cancellation of the Solar for All program and unilateral termination of grant agreements constituted “a clear, unambiguous, and material breach of the agreements.” The complaint alleged that EPA acted based on an erroneous interpretation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as rescinding all appropriations related to Solar for All, not just “unobligated balances.” The plaintiffs contended that this basis for terminating the grants was also erroneous as a matter of contract law because the interpretation did not constitute grounds for termination under the grant agreements’ express terms and conditions. The complaint also asserted a breach of the grant agreements’ implied duty of good faith and fair dealing.