Energy Resilience Community Outreach & Education - Request for Proposals

The Washington State Department of Commerce is requesting proposals from registered 501(c)(3) organizations to conduct an energy resilience outreach and education campaign in Eastern Washington and the North Olympic Peninsula, with proposals due August 13, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time and a pre-proposal conference on July 20, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time via Zoom. This procurement is funded through Federal Emergency Management Agency Grant DR-4481 and targets disproportionately impacted and overburdened communities and tribes across 22 counties in State Homeland Security Regions 2, 7, 8, and 9.

Applicants must be registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations with minimum five years of experience developing community outreach campaigns in rural and disaster-impacted communities, minimum three years supporting community education on energy resilience topics, and minimum three years of community engagement experience in Eastern Washington. Proposers may serve a subset of the geographic area. Key deliverables are documented community outreach and education activities with minimum event targets of six in Region 2, twelve each in Regions 7 and 8, and eighteen in Region 9.

The maximum total funding available is $230,000 on a reimbursement basis for accepted deliverables and allowable expenses. The contract period runs October 10, 2026 through May 2, 2027, with Commerce reserving the right to extend for two one-year periods. One or more awards may be made.

Evaluation allocates 80 percent to the technical proposal and 20 percent to the management proposal, with cost evaluated for alignment to scope of work. Proposers certifying they do not require mandatory individual arbitration clauses for employees receive an additional 5 percent scoring bonus. Diverse Business Inclusion Plan is required with agency goals of 10 percent minority-owned, 6 percent women-owned, 5 percent veteran-owned, and 5 percent small business participation. Evaluation and scoring runs August 13–24, 2026, with oral interviews potentially scheduled August 26–27. The apparent successful contractor will be announced September 7, 2026.