Frequently Asked Questions

As included in Section I.B. and Appendix A of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA): ““Tribal Building(s),” for the purposes of this FOA, is a single or multiple buildings located on Tribal Lands, where the eligible tribal entity has or has been granted certain rights and duties, specifically the ability to exercise authority, direction, and control over the project. Note that ownership may be private, collective, or common and some of those rights and duties may be held by different parties. Tribal Building(s) are those where the eligible tribal entity has the authority to augment or modify the building and where the building is owned by the eligible tribal entity or tribal members or tribal organization, or the eligible tribal entity has a long-term lease (as a minimum, for the useful life of the proposed project). Tribal Buildings may include, but are not limited to, tribal member homes, schools, community buildings, clinics/hospitals, tribal government buildings, fire stations, police stations, radio stations, washaterias, utility facilities (such as water/wastewater systems), or tribal businesses.” [Emphasis added]

Also, per Section III.A. “eligibility for award under this FOA is restricted to: (1) an Indian Tribe; (2) Intertribal Organization; or (3) Tribal Energy Development Organization; and (4) on whose Tribal Lands the project(s) will be located.” See Section III.A. and Appendix A for definitions.

Therefore, although tribal member homes may be considered “Tribal Buildings”, provided the eligible tribal entity has the authority to augment or modify the building, tribal members, in and of themselves, are not eligible to apply under this FOA.

Please also see the definition of building efficiencies (page 86) as “for purposes of this FOA, ground or air source heat pumps are considered an energy efficiency measure”, not a renewable energy system, and therefore only eligible under Topic Area 1.b. or in conjunction with a renewable energy system under Topic Area 1.c.

Question 1:  Alaskan Native Corporations are eligible to apply provided they conform to the definition and eligibility requirements under Section III of the FOA; however, Alaska Native Corporations will not be given priority.

Question 2:  The DOE is solely providing funding through competitive grants and will provide funding directly through those grant agreements to eligible applicant’s whose applications are selected for award. Specifically, the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is soliciting applications from: (1) an Indian Tribe; (2) Intertribal Organization; or (3) Tribal Energy Development Organization; and (4) on whose Tribal Lands the project(s) will be located, under the Topic Areas specified in Section I.B. of the FOA. Please see the FOA for the eligible projects and the criteria upon which applications will be rated.

If a complete application is received, meets the eligibility requirements under Section III of the FOA, is comprehensively reviewed and selected for negotiation of award, DOE will request any additional or clarifying information and the applicant will have the ability to update or supplement their application at that time (see Section IV.D.). If selected for negotiation of award, the applicant will have the opportunity to ‘cure’ (i.e., fix) any minor errors in the application at that point. Further, per Section V.D.2. of the FOA, “DOE may determine that pre-selection clarifications are necessary from one or more Applicants. These pre-selection clarifications will be solely for the purposes of clarifying the application and will be limited to information already provided in the application documentation.” Additionally, per page 69 of that same section, “DOE will not reimburse Applicants for expenses relating to the pre-selection clarifications, nor will these costs be eligible for reimbursement as pre-award costs.

Costs for preparation of an application are not eligible for reimbursement or as cost share. Per page 4, “Only cost share contributions made during the period of performance of the grant, if awarded, can be considered. Any costs incurred prior to award selection cannot be considered as cost share or for reimbursement by DOE. See Section IV.H.”

Per pages 4 and 48 of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA): “For Indian Tribes, the statement of commitment and cost sharing must be in the form of an executed Tribal Council Resolution, unless an Indian Tribe provides a commitment in a format other than a Tribal Council Resolution and evidence of the statutory or other legal authority authorizing that form of commitment in lieu of a Tribal Council Resolution accompanies that commitment. Such evidence must establish that the commitment submitted carries the same level of Tribal leadership commitment as a Tribal Council Resolution. See Section IV.C.6.”

You may submit an application to CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT ON TRIBAL LANDS – 2023 Number: DE-FOA-0002975 for the same project as was submitted under CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENT ON TRIBAL LANDS – 2022 Number: DE-FOA-0002774; however, if that application is selected for negotiation of award under Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0002774, the application would not be eligible for funding under DE-FOA-0002975.

To be eligible under the subject Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), use of commercially proven warrantied clean energy technology is required. The definitions under Appendix A of the FOA as included below for reference. Therefore, if the proposed vertical axis turbines meet the commercially proven warrantied requirement as defined below, it would be eligible.

“Commercially proven” for the purposes of this FOA, means the technology must be at least a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 9, where TRL 9 is “Commercial-Scale Production/Application” and represents an in-service application of the technology in its final form and under mission condition and at TRL 9, the actual, commercial-scale system is proven through successful mission operations, whereby it is fielded and being used in commercial application. Information relative to the technology and its TRL should be provided as part of the application. For more on TRL, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology_readiness_level.

“Warrantied,” for the purposes of this FOA, is to have a guarantee or promise which provides assurance by one party to the other party that specific facts or conditions are true or will happen. This factual guarantee may be enforced, regardless of materiality, and allows for a legal remedy, if that promise is not true or followed. For purposes of this FOA, DOE expects that a warranty will cover defects in materials and workmanship and potentially the replacement of parts and labor for the failed components (or a portion thereof) for a specified period of time. The warranty should also describe the conditions under which the warranty will be honored. Additionally, depending on the type of energy efficiency measure, energy generating system(s), or integrated energy system(s), performance, function, or degradation may be included as part of the warranty and thereby the warranty guarantees minimum standards of quality such as availability or amount of power production, and includes the terms under which those standards are honored.

Statute defines who is eligible for funding under the Office of Indian Energy Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) and Native Hawaiians are not included as eligible to receive funding.  For eligible applicants, see Section III.A. of the FOA.

Per Section III.B. of the Funding Opportunity Announcement: “If funds from a federal source are being proposed either as additional federal funds against the total project costs or as non-federal cost share, as allowed by law, the Applicant must provide a commitment letter from the federal agency as part of the application that specifically commits those funds and identifies the statutory authority that allows those funds to be used for the project being proposed. Additionally, if those funds are to be used as non-federal cost share, the commitment letter must also include the excerpt from the statutory authority that allows those funds to be used as non-federal cost share. These commitment letters will be reviewed to determine allowability, by DOE Legal Counsel and the Contracting Officer, prior to accepting funds as either additional federal project funds or non-federal cost share from other federal sources.” [Emphasis added]

Therefore, you will need to contact the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to determine whether funds through the Good Jobs Challenge are eligible for use as non-federal cost share and obtain (1) a commitment letter from the federal agency that specifically commits those funds and identifies the statutory authority that allows those funds to be used for the project being proposed, and if those funds are to be used as non-federal cost share, (2) includes the excerpt from the statutory authority that allows those funds to be used as non-federal cost share.

As stated in Section III.F. Questions Regarding Eligibility (page 31) of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), “DOE will not make eligibility determinations for potential Applicants prior to the date on which applications to this FOA must be submitted. The decision of whether to submit an application in response to this FOA lies solely with the Applicant.”

However, for your purposes in making that decision, we offer the following based on the limited information provided in your question:

Section III.A. of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) identifies eligible Tribal Land. Specifically, “Tribal Lands,” for the purposes of this FOA, is defined as:

(a) “Indian land” (see definition below);

(b) lands held in fee simple (purchased or owned) by an Indian Tribe, Intertribal Organization, Tribal Energy Development Organization, or other eligible Applicant;

(c) lands held under a long-term land lease (as a minimum, for the useful life of the proposed project) by an Indian Tribe, Tribal Energy Development Organization, or other eligible Applicant; and

(d) land that was conveyed to a Native Corporation pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. § 1601, et seq.) and subsequently conveyed to another entity, provided that entity is either a Native village or Tribal governmental entity or the land is held, invested, managed for and on behalf of a Native village or Tribal governmental entity.”

Further, “Indian Land” was expanded in statute to include: “any land located in a census tract in which the majority of residents are persons who are enrolled members of a federally recognized Tribe or village.” [Emphasis added]

Therefore, if any of the situations above apply, then those lands would be eligible.

As stated in Section III.F. Questions Regarding Eligibility (page 31) of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), “DOE will not make eligibility determinations for potential Applicants prior to the date on which applications to this FOA must be submitted. The decision of whether to submit an application in response to this FOA lies solely with the Applicant.”

However, for your purposes in making that decision, we offer the following based on the limited information provided in your question:

If the community-scale storage project proposed under Topic Area 2.b. is intended to be combined with the community-scale solar project proposed under Topic Area 2.a., these would not be considered distinctly different as combining them results in a single project and per Section I.B. (page 20), “[u]nder Subtopic Area 2.b. community storage systems are not intended to be combined with an energy generating system(s).” If the intent is to combine the community-scale solar project and community-scale storage project, please review the applicability of Topic Area 3.b.

If, however, the community-scale solar project is distinct and separate from the community-scale storage project and the only similarity is the Applicant, then two separate applications must be submitted (one application for the community-scale solar project under Subtopic Area 2.a. and one application for the community-scale storage project under Subtopic Area 2.b.) since Section III.E. of the FOA specifically states “each application addresses only one Subtopic Area”.

1. 1. Federal funds can only be used as non-federal cost share if the statute under which those funds were provided explicitly states that those funds can be used as non-federal cost share. Per Section III.B. of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA): “If funds from a federal source are being proposed either as additional federal funds against the total project costs or as non-federal cost share, as allowed by law, the Applicant must provide a commitment letter from the federal agency as part of the application that specifically commits those funds and identifies the statutory authority that allows those funds to be used for the project being proposed. Additionally, if those funds are to be used as non-federal cost share, the commitment letter must also include the excerpt from the statutory authority that allows those funds to be used as non-federal cost share. These commitment letters will be reviewed to determine allowability, by DOE Legal Counsel and the Contracting Officer, prior to accepting funds as either additional federal project funds or non-federal cost share from other federal sources.” [Emphasis added] As such, you will need to reach out to the DOE Office(s) administering those grant funds to determine whether the statute under which those funds were provided explicitly states that those funds can be used as non-federal cost share.
   2. See #1 above.
   3. A contractor may “contribute a portion of their hours for design engineering, installation and testing for cost matching in this FOA” (see Section III.B. of the FOA); however, once a contractor provides cost share that entity becomes a Subrecipient and is subject to all terms and conditions of the grant. Specifically, per Section III.B.4: “Project Teams may provide cost share in the form of cash or in-kind contributions; however, ultimately the Recipient of the federal award is solely responsible for providing the required, verifiable cost share, if an award is made, even if the cost share is being provided by a Subrecipient(s). Note that Subrecipients who provide cost share, either as cash or as in-kind contributions, or an entity that is deemed a Subrecipient per 2 CFR § 200.1 and 2 CFR § 200.331(a), are subject to all terms and conditions of the grant.” Also, be aware that, those commitments must also be included in the Participant Letters of Commitment and Cost Sharing File (see Section IV.C.7 of the FOA).
   4. See #3 above.

As stated in Section III.F. Questions Regarding Eligibility (page 31) of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), “DOE will not make eligibility determinations for potential Applicants prior to the date on which applications to this FOA must be submitted. The decision of whether to submit an application in response to this FOA lies solely with the Applicant.”

However, for your purposes in making that decision, we offer the following based on the limited information provided in your question:

The use of a geothermal resource for power production is not specifically precluded under the subject FOA; however, only activities which directly result in the installation of equipment to generate electricity and/or heating or cooling will be considered. Per Section I.C. of the FOA, the following applications are specifically not of interest, ”[a]pplications that fall outside the technical parameters specified in Section I.B. of the FOA” and “[a]pplications proposing studies, design, and engineering (excluding final design and engineering), or development (pre-construction) activities; or any other activity which does not directly result in the installation of equipment to generate electricity and/or heating or cooling, reduce energy use, or enhance energy storage and delivery infrastructure.” [Emphasis added]

Specifically, geothermal drilling typically involves identifying and assessing the geothermal resource and would not, in and of itself, result in the installation of equipment to generate electricity and/or heating or cooling. Further, as stated under Section I.B. relative to Subtopic Area 2.a., Topic Area 3., and Subtopic Area 4.a. of the FOA states, applications “must demonstrate the availability of the renewable energy resource for the life of the project, and applications proposing geothermal, or biomass systems must also demonstrate the sustainability of the resource.” [Emphasis added]

Based on the above, geothermal drilling would not, in and of itself, result in the installation of equipment to generate electricity and/or heating or cooling and would be required prior to submitting an application to demonstrate the availability and sustainability of the resource.  A geothermal drilling project, therefore, would not be of interest under this FOA.

Regarding the period of performance, per the Executive Summary (page 1) and Section II.A.2. (page 29), “DOE anticipates making awards with a period of performance of approximately two (2) to four (4) years, which must include a mandatory 12-month verification period.” [Emphasis added] Therefore, the period of performance proposed must include the 12-month verification period; however, the period of performance may be longer than four (4) years.

Previously funded Recipients of a grant from the Office of Indian Energy are eligible to apply under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA); however, as described in the FOA, the Selection Official may consider whether an applicant has previously received a grant from the Office of Indian Energy as a Program Policy Factor in making his/her decision of which applications to select for award negotiations. As part of that analysis, the Selection Official could also consider the amount provided and the number of years that have passed since previous funding was provided in making his/her decisions.

There is no specific format prescribed for the required comprehensive feasibility study, nor is a template available. The application, including the comprehensive feasibility study, will be reviewed relative to the technical review criteria under Section V.A. and therefore, the comprehensive feasibility study should, among the other items identified, demonstrate the technical and economic viability, including financial sustainability, of the proposed project.

As stated in Section III.F. Questions Regarding Eligibility (page 31) of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), “DOE will not make eligibility determinations for potential Applicants prior to the date on which applications to this FOA must be submitted. The decision of whether to submit an application in response to this FOA lies solely with the Applicant.”

However, for your purposes in making that decision, we offer the following based on the limited information provided in your question:

The FOA does not preclude multiple installations in two geographically distinct locations, provided both proposed sites meet the requirements of the Topic Area and the Applicant and application meet the eligibility requirements published in the FOA.

Per Section I.B.2. of the FOA, applications being sought under Topic Area 2 are for the deployment of “(1) community-scale clean energy generating system(s) (Subtopic Area 2.a.) or (2) community-scale energy storage on Tribal Lands (Subtopic Area 2.b.).” [Emphasis added]

More specifically, per Section I.B. (page 10) “Applications exclusively proposing clean energy generating system(s) will only be accepted under Subtopic Area 1.a. and Subtopic Area 2.a. Applications exclusively proposing energy efficiency measure(s) will only be accepted under Subtopic Area 1.b. Applications proposing a combination of clean energy generating system(s) and energy efficiency measure(s) will only be accepted under Subtopic Area 1.c. Applications exclusively proposing energy storage will only be considered under Subtopic Area 2.b. and applications proposing integrated energy system(s) will only be considered under Topic Area 3 and Subtopic Area 4.a. Projects proposing energy infrastructure will only be accepted under Subtopic Area 4.b” [Emphasis added] See Appendix A for the definition of Integrated Energy System(s).

Therefore, as described in your question, the ‘battery/renewable energy generating systems’ does not appear to meet the requirements of Topic Area 2; however, the proposed project may be consistent with the types of projects being sought under Topic area 3 (Integrated Energy System(s) for Autonomous Operation).

Per Section I.B.2. (page 18), “For the purposes of Topic Area 2 [Community-Scale Clean Energy Generating System(s) or Community Energy Storage Deployment], “community-scale” means serving a “substantial” number of the total buildings within a community, or a “substantial” portion of the community’s energy load, or an entire tribal community. For the purposes of this FOA, “substantial” means of “ample or considerable amount”.” [Emphasis added] Per Section I.B.3.b. (page 22), “Under Subtopic Area 3.b. [Tribal Community Resilience], the DOE Office of Indian Energy is soliciting applications to install community-scale integrated energy system(s) for autonomous operation (independent of the traditional centralized electric power grid) to power a “substantial” number of Essential Tribal Buildings within a community, or a “substantial” portion of the community’s energy load, or an entire tribal community for community resilience, where for the purposes of this FOA, “substantial” means of “ample or considerable amount”.” [Emphasis added]

As defined under Appendix A, ““Community” for the purposes of this FOA, means a group of any size whose members reside in a specific locality, share government, and often have a common cultural and historical heritage.” [Emphasis added]

Therefore, based on the FOA definition of “community”, ‘two geographically separate tribal communities’ would not be considered a single community, unless the members of both tribal communities reside in a specific locality, share a government, and may have common cultural and historic heritage.

Please review the applicant eligibility requirements under Section III.A. to ensure the ‘regional tribal organization’ meets the eligible requirements of being: “(1) an Indian Tribe; (2) Intertribal Organization; or (3) Tribal Energy Development Organization; and (4) on whose Tribal Lands the project(s) will be located”, as those terms are defined in the FOA.

It is anticipated that for clean energy technology deployment Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) that a comprehensive feasibility study would be required since it demonstrates the rationale for selecting a proposed clean energy technology, the availability of the resource (if applicable), and the technical and economic viability, including financial sustainability of a proposed clean energy project. A comprehensive feasibility study is the foundation upon which a proposed project is based.

Despite the quoted language from the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), an applicant’s cost share must be “available or accessible” at the time of application submission, rather than “verifiable”; if a grant is awarded, cost share will be verified from the Recipient’s records, once invoiced. 

More specifically, page 6 of the FOA states: “cost share must be available or accessible at the time of submission of the application, as described below. A written assurance (e.g., commitment) must be provided at the time of application submission. The written assurance (e.g., commitment) is a binding guarantee that funds are available or, with respect to the use of equipment, contributed labor hours, or unrecovered indirect costs, accessible. Cost share commitments cannot be dependent on some future event, such as receiving a grant, obtaining a loan, or securing an investor. Furthermore, although the cost share requirement applies to the project as a whole (including work performed by members of the Project Team other than the Recipient) the Recipient is ultimately and legally responsible for the entire amount of cost share, if an award is made. In addition, if an award is made, cost share will be verified, once invoiced.” [Emphasis added]

Further, Section III.B.4.  states, “[c]ost share contributions must be specified in the project budget, verifiable from the Recipient’s records, and necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient accomplishment of the project.” [Emphasis added]

Therefore, the cost share must be available and accessible at the time of submission of the application, Applicants are required to provide written assurances of their cost share contributions in their applications, and if an award is made, cost share will be verified from the Recipients records, once invoiced.

As stated in Section III.F. Questions Regarding Eligibility (page 31) of the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), “DOE will not make eligibility determinations for potential Applicants prior to the date on which applications to this FOA must be submitted. The decision of whether to submit an application in response to this FOA lies solely with the Applicant.”

However, for your purposes in making that decision, we offer the following based on the limited information provided in your question:

Per Section I.B., ““Clean Energy Generating System(s)” for the purposes of this FOA include: (1) renewable energy system(s), or (2) combined heat and power system(s) using renewable fuels such as biomass, biogas, renewable natural gas, or renewable hydrogen. See definitions under Appendix A.

Therefore, a combined heat and power system(s) using biomass or biogas would be eligible under the subject FOA, provided the Applicant, application, and proposed project meet the eligibility and all of the other requirements specified in the FOA, including being based on a comprehensive feasibility study. Further, applications submitted under Topic Area 2.a. (Community-Scale Clean Energy Generating) System(s)) and Topic Area 3 (Integrated Energy System(s) for Autonomous Operation), must “demonstrate the availability of the renewable energy resource for the life of the project, and applications proposing geothermal, or biomass systems must also demonstrate the sustainability of the resource.” [Emphasis added]