Indian Energy Funding Opportunities

DE-FOA-0003547: NOTICE OF INTENT TO ISSUE NOTICE OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY NO. DE-FOA-0003548, ENERGY TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT ON TRIBAL LANDS - 2025

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of DOE’s intention to issue this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. DOE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. However, once the NOFO has been released, DOE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions. Applications will be due about 90 days after the NOFO is issued.

Through this planned NOFO, the DOE Office of Indian Energy plans to solicit applications from Indian Tribes, which include Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Village Corporations, Intertribal Organizations, and Tribal Energy Development Organizations to:

1. Install energy generating system(s) and/or energy efficiency measure(s) for Tribal Building(s) (Area of Interest 1); or,
2. Deploy community-scale energy generating system(s) or energy storage on Tribal Lands (Area of Interest 2); or,
3. Install integrated energy system(s) for autonomous operation (independent of the traditional centralized electric power grid) to power a single or multiple Essential Tribal Buildings during emergency situations or for tribal community resilience (Area of Interest 3); or,
4. Power unelectrified Tribal Buildings (Area of Interest Area 4).

Except for Area of Interest 4, projects proposed under this NOFO are intended for Tribal Buildings that are either (1) grid-connected (which, for the purposes of the planned NOFO, means the Tribal Building(s) are connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid), or (2) connected to a stand-alone (isolated) microgrid that operates autonomously from the traditional centralized electric power grid.

Area of Interest 4 is intended to deploy integrated energy system(s) or energy infrastructure to provide electricity to Tribal Buildings which otherwise would be unelectrified, where “unelectrified” means Tribal Building(s) that are (1) not connected to the traditional centralized electric power grid, and (2) not connected to a stand-alone (isolated) microgrid that operates autonomously from the traditional centralized electric power grid.

The DOE Office of Indian Energy envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of grants. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately from two (2) to four (4) years, including a 12-month mandatory verification period. Under the planned NOFO, DOE’s Office of Indian Energy anticipates making awards that range from $100,000 to $2,500,000 or from $250,000 to $5,000,000, depending on the Area of Interest.

The DOE Office of Indian Energy plans to issue the NOFO spring 2025. If Applicants wish to be notified when the NOFO is issued, they should subscribe to the DOE Office of Indian Energy email newsletter list on its website homepage (https://energy.gov/indianenergy). When the NOFO is released, applications will be accepted only through IE-Exchange (https://ie-exchange.energy.gov). NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. See the attached NOI for more details and the registrations needed prior to submitting an application.

This is a NOI only. DOE may issue a NOFO as described herein, may issue a NOFO that is significantly different than the NOFO described herein, or DOE may not issue a NOFO at all.

DE-FOA-0003401: TRIBAL ENERGY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT - 2025

Under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the DOE Office of Indian Energy is soliciting applications from Indian Tribes, which include Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Village Corporations, Intertribal Organizations, and Tribal Energy Development Organizations to:

(1) Conduct energy planning (Topic Area 1);

(2) Comprehensively assess the feasibility and viability of deploying energy technology (Topic Area 2); or

(3) Conduct energy design and development activities (Topic Area 3).

Unless DOE approves a requested cost share reduction from 10% to 0%, all Applicants are required to provide non-federal cost share of at least 10% of the total allowable costs of the project (i.e., the sum of the federal share and the non-federal Recipient cost share of allowable costs equals the total allowable cost of the project). If requested by the Applicant as part of its application, a cost share reduction from 10% to 0% may be considered based on financial need, specifically (1) poverty rate, or (2) median household income of the tribal community as a percentage of statewide median household income. (see Section III.B.2. of the FOA and ‘Application Forms and Templates’ for this FOA on IE-Exchange).

DOE expects to make approximately $25 million of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on Congressional appropriations. DOE anticipates making approximately 20 to 40 awards under this FOA. DOE may issue awards in one, multiple, or none of the Topic Areas.

See the FOA document for a full description.

All modifications to the Funding Opportunity Announcement are highlighted in yellow in the body of the FOA.

Modification 0001:

Submission deadline for applications: February 06, 2025, at 5:00PM Eastern Time

Modification 0002:

1. Submission deadline for applications: March 20, 2025, at 5:00pm Eastern Time

2. Modification of applicable technologies eligible for funding

Submission Details:

IE-Exchange is designed to enforce the deadlines specified in this FOA. The “Apply” and “Submit” buttons will be automatically disabled at the defined submission deadlines.

Applicants that experience issues with submission PRIOR to the FOA deadline (in the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission), the Applicant should contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance (ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov). The Exchange helpdesk will assist Applicants in resolving issues. However, those Applicants who are unable to submit their applications because they are submitting them at the last minute, when network traffic is at its heaviest, will not be eligible for assistance from the Exchange helpdesk.

Upon the issuance of a FOA, DOE personnel are prohibited from communicating (in writing or otherwise) with potential Applicants regarding the FOA except through the established question and answer process as described below. Specifically, questions regarding the content of this FOA must be submitted to: TribalGrants@hq.doe.gov not later than three (3) business days prior to the application due date. All questions and answers related to this FOA will be posted on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) webpage on IE-Exchange.

Informational Webinar:

An informational webinar was held on October 24, 2024 to provide information on the FOA to potential applicants.

View the webinar and download presentation slides here:

Tribal Energy Planning and Development - 2025 FOA Webinar

Under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the DOE Office of Indian Energy is soliciting applications from Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) for planning to transition their campuses to clean energy.

Eligible clean energy planning activities under this FOA, may include, but are not limited to:

(1) Strategic energy planning;

(2) Conducting an energy options analysis;

(3) Conducting energy audits to establish baseline energy use and energy efficiency options;

(4) Developing an energy organization or office;

(5) Conducting climate resiliency planning;

(6) Establishing energy policy, regulations, or codes to reduce energy use or promote energy development; and,

(7) Obtaining skills and training related to energy use, development, or management.

Applicants may propose a single eligible planning activity, multiple planning activities, or all eligible activities, provided the amount of DOE funding being requested does not exceed the maximum DOE funding per individual award specified under Section II.A.1 of the FOA.

No recipient cost share is required under this FOA.

DOE expects to make approximately $5 million of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on Congressional appropriations. DOE anticipates making approximately 15 to 35 awards under this FOA. DOE funding per individual award under this FOA will range from no less than $100,000 to a maximum of $350,000. Further, DOE anticipates making awards with a period of performance of approximately two(2) to three (3) years.

See the FOA document for a full description.

Submission Details:

IE-Exchange is designed to enforce the deadlines specified in this FOA. The “Apply” and “Submit” buttons will be automatically disabled at the defined submission deadlines.

Applicants that experience issues with submission PRIOR to the FOA deadline (in the event that an Applicant experiences technical difficulties with a submission), the Applicant should contact the Exchange helpdesk for assistance (ExchangeHelp@hq.doe.gov). The Exchange helpdesk will assist Applicants in resolving issues. However, those Applicants who are unable to submit their applications because they are submitting them at the last minute, when network traffic is at its heaviest, will not be eligible for assistance from the Exchange helpdesk.

Upon the issuance of a FOA, DOE personnel are prohibited from communicating (in writing or otherwise) with potential Applicants regarding the FOA except through the established question and answer process as described below. Specifically, questions regarding the content of this FOA must be submitted to: TribalGrants@hq.doe.gov not later than three (3) business days prior to the application due date. All questions and answers related to this FOA will be posted on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) webpage on IE-Exchange.

Informational Webinar:

An informational webinar was held October 17, 2024, to provide information on the FOA to potential applicants.

View the webinar and download presentation slides here: 

https://www.energy.gov/indianenergy/tribal-colleges-and-universities-planning-clean-energy-transition-2025-foa-webinar