DE-FOA-0002870 Energy Future Grants FOA Document.pdf

Questions about this FOA? Email: EnergyFutureGrants@hq.doe.gov.

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

Department of Energy (DOE) Office of State and Community Energy Programs

2023 Funding Opportunity Announcement for Energy Future

Grants (EFG) Creating a Community-Led Energy Future

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) Number: DE-FOA-0002870 FOA Type: Initial

Assistance Listing Number: 81.041

NOI Issue Date: 06/01/2023, 5:00 PM ET FOA Issue Date: 07/20/2023, 5:00 PM ET Informational Webinars: 07/27/2023, 2:00 PM ET and 8/3/2023, 4:00 PM ET Submission Deadline for Full Applications: 09/30/2023, 5:00 PM ET Expected Date for DOE Selection Notifications: 11/30/2023, 5:00 PM ET Expected Timeframe for Award Negotiations: 12/30/2023, 5:00 PM ET mailto:S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

Table of Contents I. Overview of Key Information

II. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Background and Context

i. Program Purpose

ii. Strategic Goals

B. Topic Areas

i. Topic Area 1 - Transportation

ii. Topic Area 2 - Power Sector

iii. Topic Area 3 - Buildings

iv. Strategic or Cross-Cutting Projects

C. Project Implementation D. Teams

i. Teaming Approach

ii. Teaming Structure and Partners

a. Local governments

b. State governments

c. Tribes

d. Community-based organizations

iii. Teaming Partner List

E. Technical Assistance

i. Areas of Support

ii. Opportunities to Leverage Federal Resources

F. Applications Specifically Not of Interest G. Community Benefits Plan: Job Quality and Equity H. Authorizing Statutes

III. Award Information

A. Estimated Funding

i. Period of Performance

ii. New Applications Only

IV. Eligibility Information

A. Eligible Applicants

i. Prime Recipients: local, state, and tribal governments

ii. Subrecipients: Domestic Entities

iii. Incorporated Consortia

iv. Unincorporated Consortia B. Cost Sharing C. Compliance Criteria D. Responsiveness Criteria E. Other Eligibility Requirements

i. Requirements for DOE/NNSA FFRDCs Listed as the Applicant F. Limitation on Number of Full Applications Eligible for Review G. Questions Regarding Eligibility

V. Application and Submission Information

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

A. Application Process

i. Additional Information on Clean Energy Infrastructure Funding Opportunity Exchange B. Application Forms C. Full Application Icons align with the Application Review Criteria Section VI

i. Budget Information

ii. Letters of Commitment and Cost Share

iii. Community Benefits Plan: Job Quality and Equity

iv. SF-424: Application for Federal Assistance

v. Summary/Abstract for Public Release

vi. Summary Slide

vii. SF-LLL: Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (required) A. Post Selection Information Requests

i. Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO)

ii. Full Budget Justification Workbook

iii. Subrecipient Budget Justification (if applicable)

iv. Waiver Requests (if applicable)

v. Definitions:

vi. Potentially Duplicative Funding Notice B. Content and Form of Replies to Reviewers Comments C. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) and System for Award Management (SAM) D. Submission Dates and Times E. Intergovernmental Review F. Funding Restrictions

i. Allowable Costs

ii. Pre-Award Costs

iii. Performance of Work in the United States (Foreign Work Waiver)

iv. Construction

v. Foreign Travel

vi. Equipment and Supplies

vii. Buy America Requirements for Infrastructure Projects

vii. Davis-Bacon Act Requirements

viii. Lobbying

ix. Risk Assessment

x. Invoice Review and Approval

VI. Application Review Information

A. Technical Review Criteria

i. Full Applications

ii. Criteria for Replies to Reviewer Comments

B. Standards for Application Evaluation C. Other Selection Factors

i. Program Policy Factors D. Evaluation and Selection Process

i. Overview

ii. Pre-Selection Interviews

iii. Pre-Selection Clarification

iv. Recipient Integrity and Performance Matters

v. Selection

E. Anticipated Notice of Selection and Award Negotiation Dates

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

VII. Award Administration Information

A. Award Notices

i. Ineligible Submissions

ii. Full Application Notifications

iii. Successful Applicants

iv. Alternate Selection Determinations

v. Unsuccessful Applicants

B. Administrative and National Policy Requirements

i. Registration Requirements

ii. Award Administrative Requirements

iii. Subaward and Executive Reporting

iv. National Policy Requirements

v. Environmental Review in Accordance with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

vi. Applicant Representations and Certifications

vii. Statement of Federal Stewardship

viii. Statement of Substantial Involvement

ix. Intellectual Property Provisions

x. Reporting

xi. Conference Spending

xii. Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) Financing Statements

xiii. Real Property and Equipment

xiv. Implementation of Executive Order 13798, Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty

xv. U.S. Manufacturing Commitments

xvi. Interim Conflict of Interest Policy for Financial Assistance

xvii. Fraud, Waste and Abuse

C. Program Down-Select

VIII. Questions/Agency Contacts

IX. Other Information

A. FOA Modifications B. Government Right to Reject or Negotiate C. Commitment of Public Funds D. Treatment of Application Information E. Evaluation and Administration by Non-Federal Personnel F. Notice Regarding Eligible/Ineligible Activities G. Notice of Right to Conduct a Review of Financial Capability H. Requirement for Full and Complete Disclosure I. Retention of Submissions J. Rights in Technical Data K. Copyright L. Prohibition on Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment M. Personally Identifiable Information (PII) N. Annual Independent Audits O. Informational Webinars

Appendix A – Required Use of American Iron, Steel, Manufactured Products, and Construction Materials

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

Appendix B – List of Acronyms

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

I. Overview of Key Information

Agency: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Program Overview: This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is for the Energy Future Grants (EFG), issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP). In accordance with Congressional direction, DOE will provide financial and technical assistance to support innovative – novel or early action – clean energy planning to benefit disadvantaged communities.1

Energy Future Grants provides $37 million total in financial assistance in two phases to advance:

• Partnerships: Create multijurisdictional partnerships between local, tribal, and/or state governments, with a goal of at least 3-4 partners per team.

• Communities: Develop deployment-focused clean energy plans in the transportation, building, and/or power sectors to meet community needs.

• Innovation: Prioritize innovative (novel or early action) approaches that maximize access to affordable clean energy across sectors, markets, and geographies.

Deadlines:

• September 30, 2023, at 5 p.m. ET: Full Application due

Funding Overview: DOE will award $37 million in funding in two phases. See Table 2, below.

• Phase 1: $27 million over 12-18 months in this funding opportunity.

o Around 50 awards of up to $500,000 will be made in Phase 1.

Phase 2: $10M over 2 years in a future funding opportunity.

o Successful Phase 1 awardees will compete for awards of up to $1 million.

Eligible Applicants: Entities that may apply to this FOA are local governments, states, territories, and tribes. Applicants are encouraged to partner as multijurisdictional teams and with community-based organizations (CBOs), academia, utilities, and/or non-profit entities.

The following entities are eligible to apply as prime applicants:

• States/territories, local governmental entities, and tribal nations. It is suggested that applicants include at least 3-4 or more of these governmental partners (e.g., a state and three cities in the states, several cities in a region, and a city and multiple tribes, etc.).

1 Communities are considered disadvantaged if they are in census tracts that meet the thresholds for at least one of the categories of burden (climate change, energy, workforce, water and wastewater, transportation, health, housing, legacy pollution) and are low-income, or are located on land belonging to Federally Recognized Tribes.

See: Methodology & data - Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool (geoplatform.gov) https://screeningtool.geoplatform.gov/en/methodology#3/33.47/-97.5

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

The following entities are eligible subrecipients:

• Non-profit entities including CBOs.

• Institutions of higher education, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, Hispanic Serving Institutions, tribal colleges, community colleges, and think tanks.

• Local or regional planning organizations.

• Utilities including investor-owned, cooperative/public power, and municipal as well as third-party or independent power providers.

• For-profit entities such as architecture, engineering, or consultants.

Table 1: Eligible Applicants and Partners

Local government*

State* Tribe* Community-based organization

(CBO)**

Utility*** Academia partner***

Consulting, Business, and Finance***

Local government with defined roles suited to designing and adopting plans.

State agency, office, or program.

All 574 federally recognized tribes .

A nonprofit able to influence decision-making processes to reflect community needs and maximize community strengths.

Investor-owned, municipal, or cooperative utilities, including regional or local grid operators.

University program (academic program, research institution think-tank), or community college.

Entity with localized expertise in engineering, urban planning, logistics, development, including small businesses.

Philanthropy organizations, banks, community development finance institutions, etc.

*One entity is designated prime applicant. **CBOs are encouraged as partners and should be included in the team budget. ***Subrecipients. Lead applicants should submit formal letters of support from the partners (team members) as part of their application submission.

Key Benefits and Metrics:

• Reduced energy burden and poverty, measured through metrics such as improvement in energy burden from a baseline established prior to project implementation.2

• Increased energy access in disadvantaged communities, measured by reduction of homes or businesses able to access to affordable, clean electricity in disadvantaged communities.3

2 For more information, see the LEAD Tool | Department of Energy 3 Census tract meets the thresholds for at least one of the categories of burden (climate change, energy, workforce, water and wastewater, transportation, health, housing, legacy pollution) and are low-income or are located on belonging to Federally Recognized Tribes. See: Methodology & data - Climate & Economic Justice Screening Tool (geoplatform.gov) mailto:S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov https://www.energy.gov/scep/slsc/lead-tool

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

• Increased economic development, measured in ongoing permanent jobs created in the community, improved wages and benefits, workforce training programs created or maintained, or other economic effects related to clean energy production and distribution.

• Improved benefit to health public health, measured through positive changes in metrics such as air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and water quality.

• Increased housing affordability, measured by the housing price-to-income, expenditure-to-income in each community, or other indicators of housing affordability.

Topics and Example Areas of Interest:

Below are project examples. Ideas submitted must define the innovation and benefits to disadvantaged communities.

Topic Area 1: Transportation

• Overview: Efforts to reduce the energy intensity or greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, with a focus on local or regional economic development partnerships that increase equitable infrastructure and/or mobility.

• Potential Areas of Interest:

o Infrastructure: Transit-oriented development, zoning changes, streamlined permitting, or road fix-it-first/repair solutions.

o Electric vehicles (EVs): Mobility roadmaps, EV-ready building codes, mobile charging stations, EV-friendly rates, pricing, or tariffs.

o Net zero fuels: Public-private partnerships for production, regional or market-based deployment plans.

o Fleet strategies: Light, medium, and heavy-duty fleet electrification plans, use of net zero carbon fuels, solutions to address demand charges in partnerships with utilities, or collaborations with ridesharing companies, trucking, transit, freight, and airport fleets.

Topic Area 2: Power Sector

• Overview: Scalable innovations in the power sector through distributed energy delivery models, such as microgrids, that emphasize demand flexibility. Expanded use of zero carbon fuels, clean energy siting, or procurement strategies.

• Potential Areas of Interest:

o Electrification: Scaled adoption of electric devices (e.g., water heaters, heat pumps, EVs) that benefit consumers and the power grid.

o Resource planning: Approaches to ensure local priorities for energy efficiency, storage, and distributed energy are incorporated in utility resource planning.

o Local planning, siting, and procurement: Permitting or regulatory changes to benefit affordable energy access (e.g., agrivoltaics, brownfields, etc.), and deployment.

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

Topic Area 3: Buildings

• Overview: Innovations in net zero new and existing commercial and residential buildings, including solutions that address the energy burden in affordable housing or improve community facilities. Approaches include building retrofit programs or performance standards to drive outcomes (e.g., resilience, electrification, decarbonization).

• Potential Areas of Interest:

o On-site generation: Plans to scale distributed energy including solar, storage, efficiency, geothermal, or other technologies to reduce emissions and costs.

o Codes and incentives: New approaches that account for embodied carbon, environment, or other impacts from buildings. Relevant proposals in the housing sector should seek to leverage or align with IRA provisions, including Home Efficiency Rebates and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates, and identify partnership opportunities with states and utilities.4 o Strategic ideas: Approaches may include retrofits based on building typology, a focus on community assets, (e.g., libraries, schools) or opportunities in manufacturing housing or net zero energy construction.

• Cross-Cutting Topics: Applicants are not bound to the topics above, nor to a single area (transportation, power, buildings). Teams are encouraged to propose multi-sector integrated solutions (e.g., deployment of virtual power plants, distribution system upgrades to accommodate zero emission heavy duty EVs).

Table 2: Anticipated Awards in Phase 1 and Phase 2

Governmental Jurisdiction

Number of Awards for

Phase 1

Award Size for Phase 1

Period of Performance

(Phase 1)

Award Size Phase 2 (down select)

Number of Awards for Phase 2

Period of Performance

(Phase 2)

State/Territory Approximately

$500,000 12-18 months $1,000,000 1-2 12-24 months

Local Approximately

$500,000 12-18 months $1,000,000 7-8 12-24 months

Tribal Approximately

$500,000 12-18 months $1,000,000 1-2 12-24 months

Total Approximately

Cost Share:

• 0% cost share required. Cost share is encouraged to maximize the impact of the projects.

However, inclusion (or not) of cost share will not have an impact on review scores.

4 See Section II.E.ii. “Opportunities to Leverage Federal Resources” for more details.

https://www.energy.gov/scep/home-efficiency-rebates https://www.energy.gov/scep/home-efficiency-rebates https://www.energy.gov/scep/home-electrification-and-appliance-rebates https://www.energy.gov/scep/home-electrification-and-appliance-rebates

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

II. Funding Opportunity Description

A. Background and Context SCEP works directly with state and local organizations to accelerate the deployment of clean energy program innovation that catalyzes economic development and creates good jobs, reduces energy costs, and benefits human health through strategies involving a wide range of government, community, business, and other stakeholders.

With nearly $16 billion in grants for states, tribal nations, territories, local governments, school districts, and nonprofits under annual appropriations, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), SCEP is investing in America through projects that reduce energy costs as well as increase access to clean energy for all Americans.

i. Program Purpose This FOA supports meaningful clean energy investments in communities. In accordance with Congressional direction, Energy Future Grants (EFG) will provide financial and technical assistance to local government, state, territorial, and/or tribal partnerships to design innovative, multijurisdictional deployment plans that maximize scalable energy affordability.

EFG will provide approximately $27 million in cooperative agreements.

Approximately 50 awards of $500,000 are expected.5 The FOA will support innovative ideas in and across the power, building, and/or transportation sectors by funding deployment-focused strategic plans that benefit disadvantaged communities.

EFG applications will describe: 1) the market, technical, financial, legal, regulatory, or administrative barriers to clean energy deployment addressed, 2) the innovation approach or framework; and 3) how project will speed and scale clean energy deployment at the local, regional and/or state level and in disadvantaged communities. For more information Technical Review Criteria in Section VI.

ii. Strategic Goals

The strategic goals for the EFG FOA are to:

5 As described in the FOA, total number of awards and the amount of each are estimates and DOE may make adjustments based on the applications received.

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

1. Establish collaborative and sustainable partnerships between local, tribal, and/or state governments, with a goal of at least 3-4 partners per applicant team.

2. Develop innovative deployment-focused clean energy plans in and across the transportation, power, and/or building sectors.

3. Prioritize plans that result in innovative (novel or early action) program designs that maximize energy affordability and provide other benefits of clean energy including economic development and jobs, housing affordability, health, mobility, and energy access.

4. Ensure all plans have deployment strategies that benefit disadvantaged communities.

B. Topic Areas This FOA will support local, state, and tribal governments in developing and implementing plans that break new ground in three topic areas: 1) transportation; 2) power sector; and 3) buildings. Awardees are encouraged to think across these sectoral silos and propose multi-sectoral or integrated ideas to improve energy affordability and access and support good jobs and other economic benefits.

i. Topic Area 1 - Transportation

Proposals in this area should include planning approaches for reducing the energy intensity or greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, with a focus on efforts to advance projects that benefit infrastructure, mobility, and net zero fuels. Innovative actions may include efforts to support on-and-off-road technology adoption and fuel use, including freight and aviation fleets. 6 Teams should consider including US DOE Clean Cities Coalitions as partners.7

ii. Topic Area 2 - Power Sector

Scalable innovations in the power sector including distributed energy delivery models that emphasize affordability and demand flexibility (e.g., pricing, rates, or tariffs). Other ideas include fuel switching to net zero carbon fuels, 6 Applicants are encouraged to review deployment of EV infrastructure funding to states and communities by the US Department of Transportation in collaboration with DOE. For more information, see the Joint Office on Transportation and Energy which was created through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to facilitate collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

https://driveelectric.gov/ 7 https://cleancities.energy.gov/ https://driveelectric.gov/

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

electrification, microgrids8, supply chain and/or procurement strategies.9 that support economic, health, and job benefits in disadvantaged communities. Teams should consider utilities or regulatory agencies as partners.

iii. Topic Area 3 - Buildings

Innovative strategies for creating net zero commercial and residential buildings, including opportunities in the multi-family sector or at community facilities.

Approaches include the adoption of building engineering, construction, and retrofit programs that account for occupant behavior, technology integration, and procurement of energy efficient material or the wider use of performance standards to drive outcomes (electrification, decarbonization, resilience). Teams should consider experts in affordable housing or building performance as partners.

iv. Strategic or Cross-Cutting Projects

Applicants are not bound to a single area above. Any team should feel free to propose innovative ideas across the topics above (e.g., deployment of virtual power plants, distribution system needs to accommodate heavy duty electric vehicles).

C. Project Implementation The EFG program will encourage innovation by competitively awarding funds in two phases. This FOA represents the first phase. A second FOA or competitive process is expected via a ‘down select’, that will fund a subset teams making progress toward developing and/or implementing their clean energy program designs under this FOA, such as prioritizing benefits for disadvantaged communities, and providing clear opportunities for replicating the innovation in other places. The down-select application is a competitive application for an additional budget period.10 Details on the down-select evaluation criteria are in Section VII.C.

8 Multiple communities could engage community institutions to create job opportunities in disadvantaged communities for the design, operation and maintenance of a microgrid.

9 For example, tribes may wish to partner to design solutions to produce and sell tribal carbon-free power to the federal government. The Indian Energy Purchase Preference at Federal Facilities encourages federal purchasing electricity and other energy products from Indian tribes and tribal enterprises.

10 At the conclusion of the awards DOE anticipates a second round of funding based on near-term progress toward:

1) specified project goals, 2) impacts relative to other awards and 3) potential for the innovation to scale (benefit other jurisdictions nationwide). Additional funding is not guaranteed, and any support will be via a separate application process.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/30/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-announces-new-actions-to-support-indian-country-and-native-communities-ahead-of-the-administrations-second-tribal-nations-summit/

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

About Phase 1 – Planning Grants This FOA funds Phase 1. SCEP intends to select approximately 50 teams for Phase 1. SCEP has not pre-determined the number of selections that will be made for Phase 1 and may make fewer selections or none if requirements are not adequately met.

In Phase 1, selected awardees will receive approximately $500,000 for a 12-to-18-month award period to provide design support and ensure engagement is inclusive of all jurisdictions and aligned with the needs of disadvantaged communities. Examples, led by the prime applicant, may include stakeholder engagement meetings, planning workshops, financial or economic analyses, or grid modeling. In addition, ongoing communication within teams is expected. Phase 1 activities will be limited to planning and outreach.

A collective set of success stories will be developed by DOE and awardees in Phase 1 to share progress with other jurisdictions. These high-level documents will highlight goals, barriers, and outcomes serving as a final report.

About Phase 2 – Deployment-Ready Grants Following the completion of Phase 1, SCEP intends to conduct a competitive process for Phase 2. SCEP may select approximately 10 teams from all Phase 1 teams to receive approximately $1 million in additional funds. SCEP may make fewer selections or none if initial requirements are not adequately met.11 See Section V.C.

Whereas Phase 1 will fund planning efforts, Phase 2 will allow teams to fund work needed to make plans deployment ready – such as analyses that inform decision-makers or address

11 Down-select funding for Phase 2 is contingent on (1) the availability of funds appropriated by Congress for the purpose of this program; (2) the availability of future-year budget authority; (3) Recipient’s submittal of required reports; (4) Recipient’s compliance with the terms and conditions of the Award; (5) Selection by DOE to proceed into the subsequent budget period based on the review criteria listed in Attachment 1, Statement of Project Objectives; and (6) written approval of the down-select application by the Contracting Officer

Phase 1 Awardees define TA needs and priorities

Technical Assistance Awardees receive support from experts

Phase 2 Subset of initial awardees implement and scale plan

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

community-identified issues. Examples include zoning and siting studies for renewable energy in multiple counties or statewide, building engineering studies for affordable housing retrofit work in a city or region, or capacity expansion modeling to inform deployment of EVs across cities.

For those awarded funding in Phase 2, local government team members will be asked to directly engage with national stakeholder organizations, if not already, to help share project success stories.12 Teams selected for Phase 2 will also be eligible to receive a DOE-sponsored, full-time field fellow to support program implementation. Details will be finalized when selected Phase 2 teams negotiate the Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO) or a similar workplan with DOE.

Phase 2 awardees are expected to start at the same time.

D. Teams

i. Teaming Approach DOE encourages innovative partnership models that bring together at least 3-4 jurisdictions per team. Applications should identify existing expertise of partners and clearly define how the program innovation will benefit disadvantaged communities.13

ii. Teaming Structure and Partners DOE encourages partners to team up on a single application. DOE strongly encourages multi-jurisdiction teaming arrangements that include a wide range of team members including 3-4 local governments working together, multiple local governments and states teaming up, tribes and local governments partnering, or other various arrangements. In addition, each team should ideally involve a community organization. Multijurisdictional teams are included as a program policy factor in Section VI.C. See table below.

Team partners include:

12 Examples include the African American Mayors Association, US Conference of Mayors, National League of Cities, and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network.

13 By accepting funds under this award, the prime recipient agrees that none of the funds obligated on the award shall be expended, directly or indirectly, to influence Congressional action on any legislation or appropriation matters pending before Congress, other than to communicate to Members of Congress as described in 18 U.S.C. § 1913.

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

a. Local governments Including but not limited to mayors and city managers, economic development and finance agencies, sustainability departments, transportation departments, metropolitan planning organizations, regional planning organizations, and council of governments.

b. State governments

Including but not limited to state legislative staff, governors, and executive agencies (energy, environmental transportation, commerce, economic development). Public utility commissions are also critical to successful plans and should be considered.

c. Tribes

Including all federally recognized tribal governments, as well as tribal colleges and universities.

d. Community-based organizations

Applicants above (states, locals, and tribes) are encouraged to include a community-based organization (CBO) or other local partner such as an academic institution (e.g., Historically Black Colleges and Universities, community colleges, Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), tribal colleges, etc.) as part of their team. CBOs are organizations that possess the knowledge, capacity (trained staff), and community connections to address community needs and priorities.

Table: Eligible Applicant Team Members by Entity Type (repeated from above)

Local government*

State* Tribe* Community-based organization

(CBO)**

Utility*** Academia partner***

Consulting and Finance***

Local government with defined roles suited to designing and adopting a plan.

State agency, office, or program.

All 574 federally recognized tribes.

A nonprofit able to influence decision-making processes to reflect community needs and maximize community strengths.

Investor-owned, municipal, or cooperative utilities, including regional or local grid operators.

University program (academic program, research institution think-tank), or community college.

Entity with localized expertise in engineering, urban planning, logistics, development, including small businesses.

Philanthropy organizations, banks, community development finance institutions, etc.

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

* One entity must be the designated lead or prime applicant. **Community-based organizations are encouraged, but not required, to be included as part of the team and budget. *** Entities cannot apply as a prime and must be a subrecipient of a team. For teaming details, see II.A and VI.C. and Program Policy Factors.

iii. Teaming Partner List

DOE is compiling a “teaming” partner list facilitate widespread participation in this FOA. The Teaming Partner List allows organizations with expertise in project topics to express their interest to potential applicants and to explore potential partnerships.

The Teaming Partner List will be made available on the SCEP Clean Energy Infrastructure Funding Opportunity Exchange under this FOA (DE-FOA-0002870).

Any organization that would like to be included on this list should submit the following information to the Teaming List email box Energyfuturegrants@hq.doe.gov with the subject line “Creating a Community-Led Energy Future”:

• Organization name, generic organization contact email, generic contact phone, organization type, geographical area of interest, area of technical expertise (bulleted list less than 25 words), and brief description of capabilities (less than 100 words).

By submitting a request to be included on the Teaming Partner List, the requesting organization consents to the publication of the above-referenced information.

Each organization should provide a generic point of contact e-mail address to receive queries. Direct personal e-mail addresses will not be posted.

By facilitating this Teaming Partner List, SCEP does not endorse or otherwise evaluate the qualifications of the entities that self-identify themselves for placement on the Teaming Partner List.

E. Technical Assistance Adopting new planning strategies can be a difficult activity when faced with capacity or knowledge restraints. Technical assistance aims to ensure innovative ideas have support through peer sharing, analyses, or other efforts. As such, technical assistance will help teams deliver their plans on time to benefit disadvantaged communities by filling those gaps. Assistance from DOE is viewed as an extension of the teams and will support project goals.14 https://infrastructure-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx mailto:Energyfuturegrants@hq.doe.gov

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

i. Areas of Support

• Peer-learning cohorts: Small groups of teams with similar planning needs or strategic goals will meet regularly (e.g., every month) for approximately 6-12 months to learn from each other and selected experts in a collaborative environment. All grantees will be grouped into DOE-led peer cohorts at the solutions workshop. Peer cohorts will help define TA delivery needs and address other issues that arise.

• Modeling or analytical support: Individual teams, subject to needs and DOE resources, will receive modeling, analyses, plan design or other support to inform outcomes in the multijurisdictional plan. A grantee team may request support, for example, to add local data into an existing analysis, evaluate proposed community and stakeholder alternatives (e.g., emissions modeling, procurement contracts, and/or cost-benefit analysis).

ii. Opportunities to Leverage Federal Resources

An important consideration for EFG teams is to consider how to access or learn from existing programs across DOE and the federal government. DOE assistance providers will help provide matchmaking in the following areas:

• Transportation: Help teams identify and access relevant sustainable transportation opportunities in DOE and across the federal government including the Environmental Protection Agency15, Department of Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, Department of Commerce, including the Joint Office of Transportation and Energy created to facilitate collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S.

Department of Transportation.

• Power: Provide information and insight for EFG teams to access DOE grid programs in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy16 (EERE), 14 The term “technical assistance” refers to expertise and resources provided by DOE or on behalf of DOE to awardees. Phase 1 technical assistance will be aligned with community goals for energy affordability equity, affordable housing, air quality, reducing energy cost burden, resilience, and others. TA providers may include:

subject matter experts (nonprofits, consultants); third-party facilitators to spur collaboration across sectors; equity providers to ensure community engagement happens; and/or finance experts to help identify and secure long-term project implementation capital.

15 EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants provide flexible support to states, local governments, tribes and territories on climate planning. These grants could be aligned with transportation funding across communities to help deploy EFG plans. See: https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/climate-pollution-reduction-grants 16 DOE EERE’s Communities to Communities Program (C2C) which provides in-depth analysis to support technology plans prior to installation. See: https://www.energy.gov/eere/clean-energy-communities-program mailto:S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov https://usdoe.sharepoint.com/sites/SCEP/Shared%20Documents/SCEP-50-Partnerships/Energy%20Futures%20Assistance/Final%20FOA/Transportation%20and%20Energy%20which%20was%20created%20through%20the%20Bipartisan%20Infrastructure%20Law%20(BIL)%20to%20facilitate%20collaboration%20between%20the%20U.S.%20Department%20of%20Energy%20and%20the%20U.S.%20Department%20of%20Transportation.%20https:/driveelectric.gov https://www.epa.gov/inflation-reduction-act/climate-pollution-reduction-grants https://www.energy.gov/eere/clean-energy-communities-program

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

the Office of Community Energy Demonstrations (OCED), the Grid Deployment Office (GDO), and the Loan Programs Office (LPO).

• Buildings: Help ensure teams access existing building sector efforts in the

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG)17, the State Energy Program, the Weatherization Assistance Program, and IRA’s Home Efficiency Rebates and Home Electrification and Appliance Rebates, as well as workforce training programs.18

F. Applications Specifically Not of Interest The following types of applications will be deemed nonresponsive and will not be reviewed or considered (See Section IV of the FOA):

• Applications that fall outside the technical parameters specified in Section I of the FOA.

• Applications for proposed technologies that are not based on sound scientific principles (e.g., violates the laws of thermodynamics).

• Applications that do not clearly identify the market barrier and how it will be addressed by a multijurisdictional team.

• Applications focused on emerging technologies.

• Applications focused on technology validation or demonstrations.

• Applications that do not clearly identify the underserved community or communities to be served by the solution being developed.

G. Community Benefits Plan: Job Quality and Equity

To ensure that these benefits are spread equitably across affected communities, applicants are required to submit a Community Benefits Plan (CBP). This plan outlines how the project will (1) support community and labor engagement, (2) invest in the American workforce, (3) promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), and (4) contribute to the President’s goal that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities (the Justice40 Initiative). DOE recognizes that applicants have different levels of capacity and experience related to this kind of community-focused planning and will support FOA awardees to develop and implement robust, locally tailored, and measurable

17 DOE’s EECBG program provides funding or support to over 2,700 states, local and tribal governments. Grantees are encouraged to team up to advance analyses or programs; EFG teams could benefit from such collaboration.

18 For more information on related workforce development funding opportunities, see the Career Skills Training Program and the Energy Auditor Training Grant Program.

mailto:S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov https://www.energy.gov/scep/home-efficiency-rebates https://www.energy.gov/scep/home-efficiency-rebates https://www.energy.gov/scep/home-efficiency-rebates https://www.energy.gov/scep/home-electrification-and-appliance-rebates https://www.energy.gov/scep/home-electrification-and-appliance-rebates https://www.energy.gov/clean-energy-infrastructure/career-skills-training-program https://www.energy.gov/clean-energy-infrastructure/career-skills-training-program https://www.energy.gov/bil/energy-auditor-training-grant-program

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

plans. For more information relating to Community Benefits Plans, please reference DOE’s Community Benefits Plan page.19

Applications must include a Community Benefits Plan (CBP) describing how the project will incorporate these four objectives. CBP milestones and workplan descriptions should be incorporated into the project documents submitted (e.g., schedule, workplan, budget, etc.). Applicants are encouraged to submit Community and Labor Partnership Documentation from established labor and community-based organizations that demonstrate the applicant’s ability to achieve the above goals as outlined in the Community Benefits Plan. Within the Community Benefits Plan, the applicant is encouraged to provide specific detail on how to ensure the delivery of measurable community and jobs benefits, (e.g., through the use of tools such as good neighbor agreements, community workforce agreements, project labor agreements, other collective bargaining agreements, or similar agreements (collectively referred as “Workforce and Community Agreements”)). See Section VI.A.i. for the Community Benefits Plan content requirements (Criterion 4).

CBP requirements are flexible to allow project teams to respond to needs of communities, workers, and impacted groups. In case of incomplete information, applicants should explain the reason and provide plans to address gaps. The CBP should provide a high-level summary of proposed goals, deliverables, outcomes, and implementation strategies for Phase 1 briefly referencing Phase 2 if possible.

H. Authorizing Statutes

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117-328).

III. Award Information

A. Estimated Funding

DOE expects to make a total of approximately $27,000,000 of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. DOE anticipates making approximately 50 awards under this FOA. DOE may issue one, multiple, or no awards. Individual awards will be approximately $500,000.

In Phase 1, approximately 50 total awards will be issued. DOE may issue awards in one, multiple, or none of the following topic areas in the table below.

19 https://www.energy.gov/infrastructure/about-community-benefits-plans https://www.energy.gov/infrastructure/about-community-benefits-plans

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

Table: Anticipated Awards in Phase 1 and Phase 2

Governmental Jurisdiction

Number of Awards for

Phase 1 (this

FOA)

Award Size for Phase 1

Period of Performance

(Phase 1)

Award Size Phase

2 (down select, future award)

Number of

Awards for

Phase 2

Period of Performance

(Phase 2)

State/Territory Approximately

$500,000 12-18 months

$1,000,000 1-2 12-24 months

Local Approximately

$500,000 12-18 months

$1,000,000 7-8 12-24 months

Tribal Approximately

$500,000 12-18 months

$1,000,000 1-2 12-24 months

Total Approximately

i. Period of Performance

DOE anticipates making awards that will run from 12 to 18 months for the initial period, comprised of one budget period. For those selected for phase two (down select), the period of performance will run from 12 to 24 months. Project continuation in both periods will be contingent upon several elements, including satisfactory performance.

ii. New Applications Only DOE will accept only new applications under this FOA. DOE will not consider applications for renewals of existing DOE-funded awards through this FOA.

iii. DOE Funding Agreements

Through cooperative agreements and other similar agreements, DOE provides financial and other support to projects that have the potential to realize the FOA objectives. DOE does not use such agreements to acquire property or services for the direct benefit or use of the United States government.

iv. Cooperative Agreements DOE generally uses cooperative agreements to provide financial and other support to prime recipients.

Through cooperative agreements, DOE provides financial or other support to accomplish a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by federal statute. Under cooperative agreements, the government and prime recipients share responsibility for the direction of projects.

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

DOE has substantial involvement in all projects funded via a cooperative agreement. See Section VII.B.viii. of the FOA for more information on what substantial involvement may involve.

IV. Eligibility Information

To be considered for substantive evaluation, an applicant’s submission must meet the criteria set forth below. If the application does not meet these eligibility requirements, it will be considered ineligible and removed from further evaluation.

A. Eligible Applicants

i. Prime Recipients: local, state, and tribal governments Prime Recipients and Subrecipients must be legally formed in the United States, have majority domestic ownership and control, and have a physical location for business operations in the United States. The proposed prime recipient and subrecipient(s) must be domestic entities.

To qualify as a domestic entity, the entity must be organized, chartered, or incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a particular state or territory of the United States; have majority domestic ownership and control; and have a physical place of business in the United States.

The following types of domestic entities are eligible to participate as a prime recipient:

1. State and local governmental entities, and tribal nations (ideally in teams of cities and states, multiple cities-towns, multiple tribes and cites, etc.).

Nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995, are not eligible to apply for funding.

ii. Subrecipients: Domestic Entities The proposed subrecipient(s) must be domestic entities. The following types of domestic entities are eligible to participate as a subrecipient of this FOA:

1. State and local governmental entities, and tribal nations. It is suggested that applicants include at least 3-4 governmental partners or more.

2. Non-profit entities including community-based organizations.

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

3. Institutions of higher education, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, Hispanic Serving Institutions, tribal colleges, community colleges and think tanks.

4. Underserved businesses, including small and disadvantaged businesses, women-owned small businesses, service-disabled and veteran owned small businesses.

5. Local or regional planning organizations.

6. Utilities including investor-owned, cooperative/public power, and municipal as well as third-party or independent power providers.

7. For-profit entities.

iii. Incorporated Consortia

Domestic incorporated consortia are eligible to participate as a subrecipient. For consortia incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a state or territory of the United States, please refer to “Domestic Entities” above.

Each consortium must have an internal governance structure and a written set of internal rules. Upon request, the consortium must provide a written description of its internal governance structure and its internal rules to the DOE Contracting Officer.

iv. Unincorporated Consortia Unincorporated Consortia must designate one member of the consortium to serve as the prime recipient/consortium representative. The prime recipient/consortium representative must qualify as a domestic entity.

Upon request, unincorporated consortia must provide the DOE Contracting Officer with a collaboration agreement, commonly referred to as the articles of collaboration, which sets out the rights and responsibilities of each consortium member. This agreement binds the individual consortium members together and should include the consortium’s:

• Management structure;

• Method of making payments to consortium members;

• Means of ensuring and overseeing members’ efforts on the project;

• Provisions for members’ cost sharing contributions (optional); and

• Provisions for ownership and rights in intellectual property developed previously or under the agreement.

Problems with Exchange? Email: S3Exchangehelp@hq.doe.gov. Include FOA name and number in subject line.

If the consortium includes foreign members, the applicant must submit a separate explicit written waiver request in the Full Application for each foreign member. See Appendix A.

B. Cost Sharing Cost sharing is not required under this FOA. The cost share requirement for this FOA is 0%.

Cost share is encouraged to maximize the impact of the projects. However, inclusion (or not) of cost share will not have an impact on review scores. Applicants that wish to submit cost share information should note this in the application.20

C. Compliance Criteria

All applicant submissions must:

• Comply with the applicable content and form requirements listed in Section V. of the

FOA;

• Include all required documents;

• Be successfully uploaded in the SCEP Clean Energy Infrastructure Funding

Opportunity Exchange including clicking the “Submit” button; and

• Be submitted by the deadline stated in the FOA, September 30, 2023.

DOE will not review or consider submissions submitted through means other than the SCEP Infrastructure Exchange, submissions submitted after the applicable deadline, or incomplete submissions.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their Full Applications at least 48 hours in advance of the submission deadline. Under normal conditions (i.e., at least 48 hours in advance of the submission deadline), applicants should allow at least 1 hour to submit a Full Application. Once the Full Application is submitted in Clean Energy Infrastructure Funding Opportunity Exchange, applicants may revise or update that submission until the expiration of the applicable deadline. If changes are made to any of these documents, the applicant must resubmit Full Application before the applicable deadline. DOE will not extend the submission deadline for applicants that fail to submit required information by the applicable deadline due to server/connection congestion.

20 Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. 109-58, sec. 988. Also see 2 CFR 200.306 and 2 CFR 910.130 for cost sharing requirements. Cost sharing is optional.