Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (Part A): Open Category - FY 2025
| Agency: | U.S. Department of Energy |
|---|---|
| CFDA: | 81.255 |
| Federal FON: | DE-FOA-0003428 |
| Office: | Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) Project Management Division |
| Multipart Grant: | Yes |
| Next Due: | 02/27/2025 (Multiple) |
|---|---|
| Solicitation Date: | 10/03/2024 |
| Match Required: | Yes |
| Match Type: | Cash/In-Kind |
| Actual Funds: | $400,000,000 (Estimated) |
| Range: | $150,000,000 (Max) |
| Award Range: | $10,000,000 (Min) / $50,000,000 (Max) |
Summary:
The purpose of this program is to provide support for rural and remote communities to build clean energy projects that benefit their communities. Benefits could include cleaner, more resilient, more reliable, and/or more affordable local energy sources for rural and remote communities. Projects could also increase local energy independence, tax revenue, economic development and diversification, and local jobs; and reduce environmental and health burdens.
All projects must serve communities with a population of less than 10,000.
The goals of this program are to:
- Deliver measurable and sustained benefits to people who live in rural or remote areas by funding replicable clean energy projects that lower energy costs, improve energy access and resilience, increase economic opportunity, and/or reduce environmental harm
- Demonstrate effective rural or remote energy system approaches using climate-resilient technologies, business structures that promote economic resilience, accessible and appropriate financing mechanisms, and/or best practices in community leadership and engagement, and workforce development
- Build clean energy knowledge, experience, capacity, and self-reliance in rural and remote parts of America
Eligible activities include:
- Improving overall cost effectiveness of energy generation, transmission, or distribution systems
- Siting or upgrading transmission and distribution lines
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy generation in rural or remote areas
- Providing or modernizing electric generation facilities
- Developing microgrids
- Increasing energy efficiency
The program specifically focuses on some of the barriers of adoption that communities face, including community perception, permitting and siting, and downstream value chain. Refer to page 12 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding these barriers and how projects may address them.
Priority will be given to:
- Various types of communities that may experience additional historical and current burdens
- Teams that credibly represent the needs and priorities of project communities
- Projects that demonstrate learnings that are applicable to other rural or remote communities across the United States and territories
Refer to pages 13-14 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding priority communities.
Funding will be provided for the following program components:
- (Part A): Open Category
- (Part B): Dual Use and Co-Location
- (Part C): Smaller-Scale Community-Centered
- (Part D): Isolated Microgrids and Unelectrified Buildings
The purpose of the Open Category component is to provide a funding path path for rural or remote clean energy infrastructure for many different project types, demonstrating approaches to addressing one or more relevant adoption barriers. Applicants may propose any project type that best serves the community's need and that reduces environmental impacts. This component prioritizes solar, battery energy storage systems, wind, water power (marine energy and hydropower), geothermal (heating and cooling or power generation), biomass/biofuels, microgrids distribution, converting fossil fuel–powered equipment to electric, and repowering existing renewable energy systems.
Examples of eligible projects include:
- Installation of microgrids to provide power regulation or backup electricity to the grid.
- Siting or upgrading less than 30 miles of subtransmission or distribution lines, grid stability and resilience with substation improvements, or other electrical infrastructure improvements
- Use of biogas from agricultural waste, either from biogas capturing or biogas generation through anaerobic digestion, to fuel on-site equipment and/or for pipeline injection
- Replacement of a non-clean backup energy generation system, such as a diesel generator, with a clean energy generation backup system and/or energy storage system, at a water treatment plant or pump station, or other critical facility
- Replacement of fossil fuel-powered heating with heat pumps in community buildings or in a residential neighborhood
- Upgrades to distribution systems to reduce outages and improve resilience
- Installation of a geothermal heating and cooling system, including geothermal heat pumps, as part of a networked, community-scale geothermal system
An optional webinar is scheduled for this program. Refer to the Application section for details.
Last Updated: December 17, 2024
Eligibility Notes:
Eligible applicants are:
- Indian tribes
- State and local governmental entities
- Nonprofit organizations
- For-profit entities
- Tribal organizations
- Rural electric cooperatives
- Farming associations and cooperatives
- Labor unions
- Institutions of higher education
- Unincorporated consortia
Projects must serve communities of 10,000 people or fewer. Ideally, projects should be sited within the rural or remote area they are designed to benefit. Projects proposed to be built outside of a rural or remote area may be considered for funding but must clearly define the rural or remote area(s) of less than 10,000 inhabitants receiving the benefits. All areas identified as directly benefitting from the proposed project must meet the definition of a rural or remote area. Refer to page 8 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding geographic eligibility.
An applicant may submit more than one concept paper through this program overall. Each concept paper must be for a single concept and topic area/component.
Each submitted application must be limited to a single concept.
Priority will be given to:
- Various types of communities that may experience additional historical and current burdens
- Teams that credibly represent the needs and priorities of project communities
Refer to pages 13-14 of the NOFA file for additional information regarding priority communities.
Department of Energy (DOE)-federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) and non-DOE FFRDCs are eligible as subrecipients but are not eligible to apply directly. Generally, federal agencies, instrumentalities, and corporations, other than the funding agency, are eligible to participate as subrecipients but are not eligible to apply directly.
501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations that engage in lobbying are not eligible to apply.
Eligible Applicants:
Local GovernmentAcademic Institutions
Consortia
Native American Tribe
Non Profits
Private Sector
State Government
Tribal Organizations/Institutions
Application Notes:
Mandatory concept papers must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET on February 27, 2025.
Concept papers must be submitted online at oced-exchange.energy.gov/Login.
Concept papers must include:
- Cover page
- Responses to concept paper questions:
- Technical solution
- Business case
- Team
- Project plan
- Community and workers
Concept papers may not exceed seven pages in length. Concept papers must be submitted in .pdf format, on standard-sized pages with one-inch margins, formatted in 12-point or larger black, Calibri font. Figures and tables may be formatted in 10-point font. The concept paper must be named according to the format provided on page 26 of the NOFA file. The maximum size of files is 50 MB. Refer to pages 27-28 of the NOFA file for additional formatting instructions.
An optional webinar for this program is scheduled as follows:
October 8, 2024
4:00 p.m. ET
Registration: www.zoomgov.com
A recording of the webinar is available online at www.youtube.com.
Concept papers will be evaluated using the following criteria:
- Clear description of project alignment with program (25 percent)
- Reasonableness of budget (20 percent)
- Team qualifications, experience, capabilities, and other resources (20 percent)
- Likelihood of success within five years (15 percent)
- Meaningful collaboration with community and stakeholders; and clear benefits to local residents (25 percent)
Following the receipt of concept papers, the funding agency will encourage a subset of applicants to submit full applications, and will discourage other applicants from doing so. Applicants may submit full applications even if they are discouraged from doing so.
Applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. ET on August 28, 2025.
Applications must be submitted online at oced-exchange.energy.gov/Login.
Applications must include:
- SF 424
- SF 424A
- SF LLL (if applicable)
- Technical volume (20 pages max)
- Community benefits plan (7 pages max)
- Community partnership documentation (2 pages max)
- Impacting Indian tribe documentation
- Resumes or equivalent (2 pages per resume)
- Letters of commitment (2 pages per letter)
- Budget justification workbook
Refer to page 26 of the NOFA file for a full list of required application components.
Files must be submitted in .pdf format, except for the budget justification workbook and subrecipient justification workbook, which must be submitted in Microsoft Excel format. Applications must be submitted on standard-sized pages with one-inch margins, formatted in 12-point or larger black, Calibri font. Figures and tables may be formatted in 10-point font. Files must be named according to the format provided on page 26 of the NOFA file. The maximum size of files is 50 MB. Refer to pages 27-28 of the NOFA file for additional formatting instructions.
The following are required in order to submit a a concept paper:
- Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
- SAM (System for Award Management) registration
Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam.
Applications will be evaluated using the following criteria:
- Technical approach and impact (25 percent)
- Financial and market viability (20 percent)
- Management and organization team (20 percent)
- Workplan (15 percent)
- Community benefits plan (20 percent)
Refer to pages 60-63 of the NOFA file for additional details regarding the program's application evaluation criteria and selection factors.
Refer to the NOFA and Overview files for additional application information.
| Match Required: | Yes |
|---|---|
| Match Type: | Cash/In-Kind |
| Actual Funds: | $400,000,000 (Estimated) |
| Range: | $150,000,000 (Max) |
| Award Range: | $10,000,000 (Min) / $50,000,000 (Max) |
|---|
Match Notes:
Applicants must provide at least 50 percent of project costs via nonfederal cash and/or in-kind contributions. In general, matching contributions may come from the award recipient, subrecipients, state or local governments, or other third-party financing. Generally, realized tax credits may be used as match.
Tennessee Valley Authority power sales revenue may be used as match.
Indian tribes, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education qualify for a reduced matching requirement of at least 20 percent of project costs.
Generally, deferred or avoided costs may not be used as match.
Federal financing and project income may not be used as a matching contribution.
Funding Notes:
Approximately $400 million is available to support 20 to 50 cooperative agreements through this program overall, with approximately $150 million available to support cooperative agreements expected to range from $10 million to $50 million through this component.
Awards are expected to be announced in spring 2026.
The length of project periods will depend on the scope of projects, and may span up to seven years. Refer to pages 20-23 of the NOFA file for detailed information regarding project phases.
Pre-award costs are only allowed with prior written approval, as detailed on pages 23-24 of the NOFA file.
Funds may not be used for:
- Large transmission projects involving more than 69,000 volts or lines of more than 30 miles, except with proper justification
- Single-campus projects that serve only the regular operation of that facility
- Electric vehicles (EVs)
- Projects solely focused on EV charging
- Projects that only include weatherization
- Pre-award costs incurred prior to award notification
- Duplication of funds/benefits
- Lobbying
Contacts:
Program Staff
ERA2024@hq.doe.gov
Agency Address
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations
1000 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20585
Contact Notes:
Questions should be directed to the program staff.
Concept papers and applications must be submitted online at oced-exchange.energy.gov/Login.
The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.
Files:
NOFA File: US18185A_NOFA_FY2025.pdf (1.0 Mb)Other Pre-Award File: US18185A_Overview_FY2025.pdf (187.6 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US18185A_Q&A_FY2025.pdf (304.6 Kb)
Federal Forms:
SF 424 (144.4 Kb)SF 424A (131.6 Kb)
SF LLL (98.7 Kb)
File Notes:
The NOFA file contains the full solicitation for this program. The Overview file contains a general summary of the program, including information regarding the pre-application webinar. The Q&A file contains an updated list of questions and answers regarding this program. The required federal forms are attached.
December 17, 2024
An updated list of questions and answers regarding this program has been released and attached as the Q&A file.
December 4, 2024
An updated list of questions and answers regarding this program has been released and attached as the Q&A file.
November 13, 2024
An updated list of questions and answers regarding this program has been released and attached as the Q&A file.
November 7, 2024
An updated list of questions and answers regarding this program has been released and attached as the Q&A file. In addition, a recording of the webinar for this program has been released, and a link to the presentation is available in the Application section.
October 21, 2024
A list of questions and answers regarding this program has been released and attached as the Q&A file.
Grant Keywords
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Training & Vocational ServicesEnergy
Environment/Natural Resources
Rural Issues
Science/Technology