Home-electrification nonprofit cuts 36 staffers in light of enduring U.S. Environmental Protection freeze on grants under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Green Bank.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) freeze of $20 billion in grants for initiatives to counter climate change has forced a key implementer to downsize and reorganize, its founder, president and chief executive officer announced late this week.
Rewiring America’s Ari Matusiak wrote in an open letter to employees that on Monday, 28% of the nonprofit organization’s staff – about 36 employees – would no longer work for the nonprofit and many remaining staffers would work in adjusted roles.
The layoff is among the most enduring outcomes so far of the EPA’s campaign to unilaterally close out grants and loans that it has allocated under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, often known as its Green Bank.
The EPA has battled with large nonprofit coalitions such as Climate United in court over whether the government acted lawfully in February when it froze Citibank accounts containing money allocated for green initiatives nationwide. In the next court action in the case, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear arguments on May 19 about the legality of the EPA’s freeze.
Rewiring America’s financial problems stemmed from the EPA moves. The nonprofit was a founding member of a coalition called Power Forward Communities, which secured a $2 billion grant from the EPA in April 2024. The grant was intended for use in promoting affordable home electrification and decarbonization, particularly among low-income and otherwise disadvantaged communities.
In light of the grant, Matusiak wrote, the organization began “making personnel and operational investments to fulfill our obligations.” But, he said, since the EPA’s freeze on green bank spending, the nonprofit has been unable to tap the grant money.
“Today, we are being forced to say goodbye to many talented and revered colleagues, reducing our team by 28 percent,” he wrote. “You will receive an email within the next few minutes informing you of whether your role has been impacted.
Yet, he vowed that Rewiring America would re-lock its sights on its guiding light of electrifying homes with the goal of climate equity.
“Rewiring America is not going anywhere,” he said, “and (it) will continue on the path to our North Star, with even more conviction, purpose and urgency.
Starting Monday, Matusiak said Rewiring America would:
- Tighten its strategic focus, partly by building a “a digital, community marketplace that gives households access to low cost and high-quality electric upgrades,”
- Resume fighting its cause in the court system.
- Restructure the organization to move forward without benefit from the green bank funding.
The letter said all departing employees would receive eight weeks of base pay, with an additional week for each of their first two years of tenure and another week for each set of six months thereafter.
“You all came here to build something timely and important,” Matusiak wrote. “To those of you leaving today, I am sorry that you will not be continuing with us. It is certainly not your fault.”
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