DOE Grid Resilience Analysis and Climate Change Impacts (GRACI)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in collaboration with its newly established Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) with ENERGYWERX as the Partnership Intermediary, has opened an initial funding opportunity for universities, non-profit, and for-profit organizations to accelerate analysis of regional climate change threats and impacts on electric grid infrastructure. Results from this effort will aid grant recipients and sub-awardees of the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants with grid resilience planning and assist in decision-making to prioritize investments for impactful community benefits.  

The Grid Resilience Analysis and Climate Change Impacts funding (GRACI) opportunity allows the development of a consortium of universities, non-profit, and for-profit organizations to provide technical assistance to grant recipients of the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants Program. The primary role of these research consortia is to accelerate analysis of climate change threats and impacts on electric grid infrastructure, describe best practices for grid operations and investments, and provide additional information and analysis to state energy officials, public service commissions, and utilities to aid in grid resilience planning and decision-making.

ENERGYWERX, in partnership with DOE, will coordinate collection of applications, selection of consortium performers, and grant management for the GRACI funding opportunity.

How to Participate

• Review details on eligibility, evaluation criteria, and how to apply
• Review the Resources from the Objective Strategic Sessions/Informational Webinar on January 10, 2024
• Review the Resources from the Informational Office Hours Session on February 7, 2024
• Download the Project Narrative Template
• Complete the Submission Form & Upload Completed Project Narrative: (Submissions are due NLT February 15, 2024, 5:00 PM ET)

Grid Resilience Analysis and Climate Change Impact Grants

The Grid Deployment Office will fund one regional-focused consortium of universities, for profit and non-profit organizations over an initial one-year performance period. The grant funds are intended to support the implementation of existing models, tools and methodologies that would allow rapid decision-making for states to implement grid resilience projects under the Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grant Program (link).  

GDO will further evaluate and prioritize applications to ensure that funded projects support state energy officials, public service commissions, tribes and/or utilities in grid resilience planning and decision-making that relates to understanding climate change threats and impacts on electric grid infrastructure.

The models, tools and methodologies proposed in the analysis should be capable of implementation and use within the one-year initial period of performance, and should be adaptable to meet milestones developed in collaboration with the GDO and a Technical Advisory Group.

Each organization may apply separately. The DOE will select applicants to form the regional consortium. The consortium performers are expected to collaborate in the development of deliverables that may include recommendations on how climate impacts should impact engineering standards and approaches used by grid operators.

Examples of types of resilience analyses can be seen below:

• Risk assessment: What are the outage threats being faced now and could face in the future? How likely are they? How severe could they be? How does this coincide with other critical services?
• State of the grid assessment: What elements of the system are performing well or poorly against outage threats? What are expectations about future performance based on asset condition, climate projections and demand changes? Which entities within the jurisdiction are finding success, which ones may need more support?
• Resilience strategy tradeoffs: What options are available to enhance grid performance and resiliency? Do the benefits outweigh the cost? What projects align with 40101d goals and which projects are feasible within DOE funding parameters?
• Prioritization and valuation: Once the risk, needs and options are understood, how should projects be prioritized? What are all qualitative and quantitative aspects that should be considered in the decision making? What criteria needs to be considered to meet DOE requirements?

DOE expects to make awards totaling up to $2 million in this round of funding. There is no maximum funding for each recipient within a consortium. However, the DOE expects funding more than one recipient for each regional consortium. There will be no federal cost share requirement.

Objective Strategic Sessions/Informational Webinar will be held on January 10, 2024 at 3:30pm ET

Informational Office Hours will be held on February 7, 2024

Submission Closes February 15, 2024 at 5:00 PM ET

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• January 4, 2024: DOE begins accepting applications from universities, for-profit and non-profit organizations.
• January 10, 2024: ENERGYWERX & DOE to conduct Objective Strategy Session (OSS) with interested regional consortium performers
• February 7, 2024: Office hours for potential applicants
• February 15, 2024: Applications close
• February - March 2024: Government review and selection of regional focus and selection of consortium performers to receive grant funding.
• March 2024: Finalized list of selected regional consortium performers
• April 2024: Selected consortium performers meet with GDO and Technical Advisory Group to finalize milestones and begin work

Complete the submission form & upload completed project narrative: CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT

(Submission are due NLT February 15, 2024 at 5:00 PM ET)

Universities, non-profits, and for-profit organizations that can certify their status as U.S. domestic entities are eligible to apply.

Impact and Feasibility (60%)

• Informs regional climate change hazards and uses tools that can be readily adapted to meet specific state-defined information needs.
• Provides useful information and recommendations based on climate models, engineering design considerations for grid assets (e.g.,distribution systems, conductors, transformers, substations, etc.) or other models and methodologies to evaluate the ability of grid infrastructure to withstand higher wind speeds, flooding, more extreme icing conditions and loads, broader temperature ranges, or other climate hazards.
• Use of publicly available tools, models and data that could be shared as deliverables.
• Adequacy of the proposed project management approach, including the clarity of project scope, cost, work plan, and key milestones.
• The ability to assist state energy offices, public utility commissions and utilities in prioritizing grid resilience investments that will benefit disadvantaged communities.  

Applicant qualifications and resources(20%)

• Expertise and experience of the project team to address all aspects of the proposed project with a high probability of success.
• Resources available within the organization to provide a cost-effective approach to the proposed project with a high probability of success.

Impact on quantifying Community Benefits(20%)

• The degree to which the modeling tool and methodology supports measurable impacts to community benefits based on analysis or scenarios of grid resilience implementation
• The approach will assist with states, tribes, and territories to better define community benefits and impacts.

DOE may consider portfolio-wide program policy factors in determining which full applications to select for awards.

What is a PIA and why is DOE/GDO pursuing this approach?   

Partnership Intermediary Agreements (PIAs) are agreements between the Federal government and non- Federal partners (partnership intermediaries or PIs) designed to increase outreach to and engagement with small business firms, institutes of higher education, and non-traditional partners.   

Who is eligible to apply? 

Universities, non-profit, and for-profit organizations that can certify their status as U.S. domestic entities are eligible to apply to be included in this PIA consortium. 

How does an applicant apply? What is required in the application? 

Information about how to apply, application materials, and deadlines are available on ENERGYWERX.

Will DOE identify and/or designate a “leading” entity within the consortium? 

DOE anticipates strong collaboration among the consortium members. DOE may designate a lead entity for the consortium; however, the exact mechanism for collaboration and coordination will be developed with input from the selected consortium performers. 

Does an applicant need to form its own consortium?  

No, DOE will receive information from potential applicants and combine potential collaborators into an appropriate consortium to achieve the overall objectives. Selected applicants will become “consortium performers” once the negotiations are completed and project deliverables and milestones are finalized.  

Can several entities apply together as a consortium if they choose to do so?

Yes. DOE will also accept applications of a partnership or team of eligible applicants. In this case, a single lead entity will submit the application, and the roles of partner entities must be described in the capabilities template. DOE will take into consideration the scope of work proposed by all proposed partners as part of the review process.

Is the total funding for an entire consortium or just one entity?   

The total funding available for this initial PIA is $2M, and DOE anticipates selecting multiple organizations to participate in a consortium based upon the applications submitted. DOE anticipates awarding between two and six entities depending on proposal qualifications and scopes of work.

What is the maximum number of entities that could be funded as part of the consortium? 

There is no pre-determined maximum number of entities that could be funded from this opportunity. The guidance above is provided to help estimate individual award budgets. The number of selected consortium performers will depend on the scope of work proposed and the total proposed budget of all the consortium members.  

What are the intended geographic boundaries of the "regional focus”? Specifically, does a “regional focus” mean one state, two states, a group of states, or some other definition?

There are no pre-defined regional boundaries. Applicants are asked to use their best judgement in identifying their specific regional expertise in their application. 

Is it a requirement for the consortium to include an academic institution? 

Applicants do not have to form a consortium in advance of submitting their application. There is no requirement for an academic institution to be included in the consortium. 

What is the desired outcome of the analysis conducted by the selected consortium? How will that analysis inform formula grant recipients? 

DOE will provide specific guidance to the selected consortium performers on the milestones and deliverables during the negotiation process. DOE will convene a group of experts and formula grant recipients who will inform the consortium performers of the expected deliverables from the analysis.  

Can the period of performance extend beyond one year?   

For the initial grid resilience pilot, GDO is interested in analysis to be performed within a 12-month period. Depending on the results of the initial Grid Resilience PIA, DOE will consider extending the period of performance.    

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If you have any questions, please contact ENERGYWERX: info@energywerx.org