Gerald Jones used to pay hundreds of dollars a month for gas and electric service to his Chatham home.

With 23 solar panels installed on his South Side bungalow last year, he now pays $75 a month.

That savings is also the result of better home insulation and a switch to electric heat, eliminating the need for natural gas that contributes to climate change.

But the solar panels, funded with the help of a state program called Solar for All, are the game changer, he said.

“I tell everybody: Get it,” said Jones, a retired mail carrier. “You can save money and the environment.”

State officials were counting on more than $130 million in federal funding to expand rooftop solar and related programs for low-income residents, a plan that would help more people like Jones.

But President Donald

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