Last summer, “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal visited the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. With federal funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, the tribe was planning to build a utility-scale solar farm to become energy independent and bring in revenue and jobs. Bob Blake, a tribal citizen and owner of the solar company Solar Bear, was leading the effort. At the time, he brought Ryssdal to the undeveloped field that would house the solar project and said, “I see Red Lake’s future.”

We checked in with Blake to hear what’s new with that project and more.

“That had to be put on pause because of the cuts that happened from the federal government,” Blake said. “We are reevaluating and reimagining not as big of a project, maybe a smaller project, so we still want to do something there.”

Beyond just that project, Blake said Solar Bear lost around $45 million in federal funding.

“It was devastating because we put in so much time and effort,” Blake said. “People were hired, and it’s such a hard thing to do to tell these individuals that we have to let them go.”

Click the audio player above to hear the story.