Indian Energy Funding Opportunity Announcements

DE-FOA-0002975: CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT ON TRIBAL LANDS - 2023

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) Install clean energy generating system(s) and energy efficiency measure(s) for Tribal Building(s) (Topic Area 1); or,

(2) Deploy community-scale clean energy generating system(s) or energy storage on Tribal Lands (Topic Area 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 (Topic Area 3); or,

(4) Provide electric power to unelectrified tribal buildings (Topic Area 4).

See Section III.A. of the FOA for eligibility information and Appendix A for the definitions.

Unless DOE approves a requested cost share reduction to 10%, a 20% cost share of the total allowable costs of the project (i.e., the sum of the DOE share, and the Recipient share of allowable costs equals the total allowable cost of the project) is required. If requested by the Applicant as part of its application, a cost share reduction of 10% may be considered, based on poverty rate and median household income of the tribal community relative to the 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 $50 million of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on Congressional appropriations. DOE anticipates making approximately 10 to 25 awards under this FOA. DOE may issue awards in one, multiple, or none of the aforementioned Topic Areas.

See the FOA document for full description.

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.

Informational Webinar:

An informational webinar was held February 28, 2023 to provide information on the FOA to potential applicants. View the webinar and download presentation slides.

DE-FOA-0002977: Notice of Intent Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002978, Transitioning Tribal College and Universities to Clean Energy - 2023

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of DOE’s intention to issue this FOA 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 FOA has been released, DOE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

Through this planned Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the DOE Office of Indian Energy plans to solicit applications from Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) for:

(1) clean energy project planning (Area of Interest 1); and,

(2) clean energy technology deployment (Area of Interest 2).

For purposes of the planned FOA, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) are defined and eligible based on the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. § 1801(a)(4)), and the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. § 1059), respectively, as follows:

“Tribal Colleges and Universities," for purposes of the FOA, mean institutions of higher education which are formally controlled, or have been formally sanctioned, or chartered, by the governing body of an Indian tribe or tribes, except that no more than one such institution shall be recognized with respect to any such tribe;

including:

Those institutions cited in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note), any other institution that qualifies for funding under the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and Diné College, authorized in the Navajo Community College Assistance Act of 1978, Public Law 95-471, title II (25 U.S.C. 640a note).

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 for Area of Interest 2 a 12-month mandatory verification period. Under the planned FOA, DOE’s Office of Indian Energy anticipates making awards that range from $100,000 to $250,000 or from $1,000,000 to $3,000,000, depending on the Area of Interest.

The DOE Office of Indian Energy plans to issue the FOA spring of 2023. If Applicants wish to be notified when the FOA 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 FOA 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 FOA as described herein, may issue a FOA that is significantly different than the FOA described herein, or DOE may not issue a FOA at all.

The DOE Office of Indian Energy is soliciting applications from Indian Tribes, which include Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Village Corporations (hereafter referred collectively as “Indian Tribes”), Intertribal Organizations, and Tribal Energy Development Organizations to provide electric power to Tribal Buildings, which otherwise would be unelectrified, by deploying (1) integrated energy system(s) (Topic Area 1) or (2) energy infrastructure (Topic Area 2). See Section III.A. of the FOA for eligibility information and Appendix A for the definitions.

Unless DOE approves a requested cost share reduction, a 20% cost share of the total allowable costs of the project (i.e., the sum of the DOE share, and the Recipient share of allowable costs equals the total allowable cost of the project) is required. If requested by the Applicant as part of its application, a cost share reduction to not less than 10% may be considered, based on poverty rate and median household income of the tribal community relative to the 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 $15 million of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on Congressional appropriations. DOE anticipates making approximately 4 to 10 awards under this FOA. DOE may issue awards in one, multiple, or none of the aforementioned topic areas.

See the FOA document for full description.

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

Informational Webinar:

An informational webinar was held December 1, 2022 to provide information on the FOA to potential applicants. View the webinar and download presentation slides.

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 (hereafter referred collectively as “Indian Tribes”), Intertribal Organizations, and Tribal Energy Development Organizations to:

(1) install clean energy generating system(s) and energy efficiency measure(s) for Tribal Building(s) (Topic Area 1); or,

(2) deploy community-scale clean energy generating system(s) or energy storage on Tribal Lands (Topic Area 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 facilities during emergency situations or for tribal community resilience (Topic Area 3).

See Section III.A. of the FOA for eligibility information and Appendix A for the definitions.

Unless DOE approves a requested cost share reduction, a 20% cost share of the total allowable costs of the project (i.e., the sum of the DOE share, and the Recipient share of allowable costs equals the total allowable cost of the project) is required. If requested by the Applicant as part of its application, a cost share reduction to not less than 10% may be considered, based on poverty rate and median household income of the tribal community relative to the 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 $20 million of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA, subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on Congressional appropriations. DOE anticipates making approximately 6 to 15 awards under this FOA. DOE may issue awards in one, multiple, or none of the aforementioned topic areas.

See the FOA document for full description.

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.

Informational Webinar:

An informational webinar was held November 29 to provide information on the FOA to potential applicants. View the webinar and download presentation slides.