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Information
Important Dates
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Webinar Resources
FAQs
Quick Links
Deadline
-
TBD
April 10, 2024
3:00 pm
ET

Request for Facilitation Support for the U.S. Department of Energy: Energy Future Grants Program Technical Assistance Cohorts

Information

Description

The DOE is seeking organizations with the capacity and knowledge to support grantees of the $27 million Energy Future Grants Program. The main objective is to provide relevant TA on the selected projects and engage disadvantaged community groups. Prior to starting work with the organization(s), DOE will have established the cohorts and initial subject-matter expert pairings through a barriers workshop. However, the organization(s) will extend upon that outreach to bring together the best minds of industry, academia, and government entities to collaborate and support EFG grantees. The organization(s) will serve as the facilitator of the technical assistance cohorts, thus monitoring the progress of the grantees and any barriers to the progress. The organization(s) will connect grantees with the most appropriate subject-matter experts for the necessary modeling and analysis for their program.

Objective

Selected organization(s) will work with DOE to assess topic area cohorts and connect grantees with subject-matter experts relevant to the topic area cohorts. These organizations will establish a working relationship with cohorts to foster the internal growth of knowledge and capacity to adequately conduct planning activities for future program deployment.

The selected organization(s) will ensure connection with the appropriate tools and organization for necessary modeling and analysis. The organization tracks the quarterly reporting to DOE based on defined and agreed upon metrics and desired outcomes for EFG. Selected organization(s) will also provide unique and effective collaboration support for cohorts allowing participants to exchange ideas and information in an innovative environment.

An eligible applicant is an organization or team of organizations, including but not limited to the following:

  • Non-profit organizations
  • Community-based organizations or networks
  • Environmental justice organizations or networks
  • Local or tribal government networks
  • Private organizations
  • Academic institutions
  • Civic and philanthropic organizations
  • Group or coalition of the above entities

Ineligible entities for this solicitation are:

  • Individuals
  • Foreign Entities
  • National Labs
  • Sub-recipients of Funding Opportunity Announcement DE-FOA-0002870: Energy Future Grants (EFG) Creating a Community-Led Energy Future

Event Updates

If you are interested in being added to the teaming partner list and having your information shared with respondents, please click here to complete this form no later than April 10, 2024. To access the list of teaming partners, please click here and use the password: EFGTEAMING

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How to Participate

  1. Review the resources from the Objective Strategic Session (OSS) webinar on March 7, 2024 from 3:00-4:00 PM ET‍
  2. Review the resources from the Office Hours (OH) Q&A Webinar on April 3, 2024 from 3:00-4:00 PM ET‍
  3. Complete Submission Here: Click Here to Submit (Submissions are due NLT April 10, 2024 @ 3:00 PM ET)

Important Dates

DOE Announcement

Breaking News: DOE Announces $27M for the Energy Future Grants - Click Here to Read More

Objective Strategic Session (OSS) Webinar

Objective Strategic Session (OSS) webinar (March 7, 2024): Join ENERGYWERX and DOE for an informational webinar on the Energy Future Grants Program on March 7, 2024 from 3:00 -4:00 PM ET.

Office Hours (OH) Q&A Webinar

Office Hours (April 3, 2024): ENERGYWERX and DOE will host open office hours for potential candidates. Participants are encouraged to come prepared to ask questions. The session will take place on April 3, 2024 from 3:00-4:00 PM ET.

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Submission Deadline(s)

Submissions are due NLT April 10, 2024 at 3:00 PM ET

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Process Details

Timeline(s)

Submissions Open (February 26, 2024 to April 10, 2024): Interested utilities must complete a submission form (for government review only) no later than April 10, 2024 at 3:00 PM ET. Submitters must download, complete, and upload a capabilities overview (maximum 2 pages). The list of criteria can be found on the capabilities overview template, found at the bottom of this webpage.

Informational Webinar/ ObjectiveStrategic Session (March 7, 2024): Join ENERGYWERX and DOE for an informational webinar on the Energy Future Grants Program from 3:00-4:00 PM ET

Office Hours (April 3, 2024): ENERGYWERX and the EFG team will host open office hours for potential applicants. Participants are encouraged to come prepared to ask questions. The session will take place on April 3, 2024 from 3:00-4:00 PM ET.

Resources from Webinar(s)

Coming soon.

Video Recording(s)

2024-03-07 SCEP EFG OSS Recording
2024-04-03 SCEP EFG Office Hours Recording

Eligibility & Review Criteria

Applications will be evaluated against the following criteria:

  1. The degree to which the applicant demonstrates substantial expertise and a successful track record working with and/or engaging state, local, and tribal governments and possesses strong existing networks within state, local, and/or tribal governments.
    - Number and quality (e.g., goals met, efficacy of evaluation processes, quality of stakeholder engagement, distribution of benefits, demonstrated implementation of energy justice principles) of successful projects.
    - Demonstrated ability to advance their clients/stakeholders into the next steps of achieving their program goals.
  2. The degree to which the applicant demonstrates substantial expertise and experience with clean energy topics across the Energy Future Grants Program topic areas:
    - Transportation
    - Power
    - Buildings
    - Strategic or Cross-Cutting
  3. Whether the applicant possesses additional specialized experience or skills that would support the delivery of the Energy Future Grants Program technical assistance, including but not limited to tribal or energy justice expertise.
  4. Whether the applicant has access to and/or can offer specialized networks and/or communications platforms for grantees to engage with other relevant tools, stakeholders, or peers undertaking similar projects.
  5. Demonstrated ability to communicate technical information to state, local, and/or tribal government practitioners with varying abilities and levels of expertise.
  6. The extent to which the applicant demonstrates substantial expertise and a successful track record of administering and facilitating interactive virtual meeting series and building community through peer learning opportunities.
  7. The extent to which the applicant understands and has experience with grant management processes, especially at the federal level.
  8. The indicated willingness of the team to work in close collaboration with DOE for the estimated duration of the entire grant period (1 year partnership).
  9. Demonstrated ability to create easy-to-understand materials, resources, and presentations.
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Frequently Asked Questions

May an FFRDC or a National Lab apply?

DOE will not directly fund National Labs*/FFRDCs via this Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA) Opportunity; however, FFRDCs (e.g. DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration national laboratories) may participate as a Selectee’s subrecipient.  The FFRDC effort, in aggregate, shall not exceed 10% of total federal share of the project, and ENWX and DOE will not be involved in, nor assist in, these activities.  Selectees will receive full funding through a Business-to-Business (B2B) Agreement with ENWX.  Selectees are solely responsible for funding and executing necessary agreements with subrecipients.  

*Caveat:  NLs may be Voucher Providers and may apply, but if selected, DOE will manage the work and pay the NL directly through the existing funding mechanism.

‍What are Smart Manufacturing and high-performance computing?

For the purposes of this opportunity:

“Smart Manufacturing” means advanced technologies in information, automation, monitoring, computation, sensing, modeling, artificial intelligence, analytics, and networking that can -

  • simulate manufacturing production lines;
  • operate computer-controlled manufacturing equipment;
  • monitor and communicate production line status; and
  • manage and optimize energy productivity and cost throughout production;
  • model, simulate, and optimize the energy efficiency of a factory building;
  • monitor and optimize building energy performance;
  • model, simulate, and optimize the design of energy efficient and sustainable products, including the use of digital prototyping and additive manufacturing to enhance product design;
  • connect manufactured products in networks to monitor and optimize the performance of the networks, including automated network operations; and
  • digitally connect the supply chain network.16

“High-Performance Computing” means the use of supercomputers, sophisticated models, and/or large data sets to study and solve complex scientific and technological challenges.

What exactly is a “small- and medium-sized manufacturer”?

The term “small- and medium-sized manufacturer” (SMM) means manufacturing firms:

  • classified in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) as any of sectors 31 through 33;
  • with gross annual sales of less than $100,000,000;
  • with fewer than 500 employees at the plant site; and
  • with annual energy bills totaling more than $100,000 and less than $3,500,000
Who is eligible to receive funding?

Refer to Section III.G.2. Eligibility Requirements in the Solicitation Overview.

An application’s prime recipient must be one of the following eligibility entities, else the application will be considered ineligible and removed from further evaluation:

  • State entity;
  • State-funded university; or
  • State-funded community or technical college
Are applicants required to provide cost share?

Yes, cost sharing is required under this solicitation. Applicants are required to provide at least a 23.1% cost share, i.e. applicants need to fund a minimum of 23.1% of the total project cost. Cost share can come from any non-federal source, i.e. cash on hand, philanthropy, corporate investment, etc.

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What is the difference between "cost sharing" and "cost match"?

Refer to the Cost Share handout for more detail and examples.

  • While the terms “cost sharing” and “cost matching” are sometimes used interchangeably, there is an important distinction between them. DOE uses “cost sharing” to indicate that the non- federal share is calculated as a percentage of the Total Project Cost. On the other hand, for “cost matching”, the non-federal match is calculated as a percentage of the federal funds only, rather than the Total Project Cost.
  • The statutory language that authorizes the State Manufacturing Leadership Program requires proponents to provide at least 30 percent cost match. For the purposes of this solicitation, the 30 percent cost matching requirement has been converted to an equivalent 23.1 percent cost sharing requirement
What are the acronyms SMM, HPC, and SLMP?
  • SMM = small- and medium-sized manufacturers
  • HPC = high-performance computing
  • SMLP = State Manufacturing Leadership Program
  • IAC = Industrial Assessment Center
  • ITAC = Industrial Training and Assessment Center
  • TA = Technical Assistance
Why did the solicitation come down mid-January?

The solicitation was temporarily taken down while DOE and ENERGYWERX confirmed that the language was consistent with recent Executive Orders.

What is an Opportunity?

Understanding Opportunities

An opportunity is a favorable circumstance or situation that allows for the potential to achieve a goal or benefit. In various contexts, opportunities can arise in business, education, and personal development. Recognizing and seizing these moments can lead to significant advancements in one's career or personal life.

Types of Opportunities

  • Career Opportunities: Job openings or promotions that can enhance your professional journey.
  • Educational Opportunities: Programs or courses that provide knowledge and skills.
  • Networking Opportunities: Events or platforms that allow you to connect with others in your field.
Download

What is the Energy Future Grants Program?

The Energy Future Grants (EFG) Program, issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), is a new annual, competitive program. EFG will provide financial and technical assistance to support innovative – novel or early action – clean energy planning to benefit disadvantaged communities.

Energy Future Grants provides $37 million total in financial assistance in two phases to advance:  

  1. Partnerships: Create multi-jurisdictional partnerships between local, tribal, and/or state governments, with a goal of at least 3-4 partners per team.  
  2. Communities: Develop deployment-focused clean energy plans in the transportation, building, and/or power sectors to meet community needs.  
  3. Innovation: Prioritize innovative (novel or early action) approaches that maximize access to affordable clean energy across sectors, markets, and geographies.

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What are the two phases of EFG?

Phase 1: $27 million over a year in the current funding opportunity.

  • In Phase 1, selected awardees will receive approximately $500,000 for a 1 year award period to provide design support and ensure engagement is inclusive of all jurisdictions and aligned with the needs of disadvantaged communities. Examples, led by the prime applicant, may include stakeholder engagement meetings, planning workshops, financial or economic analyses, or grid modeling. In addition, ongoing communication within teams is expected. Phase 1 activities will be limited to planning and outreach.  

Phase 2: Successful Phase 1 awardees will compete for awards of up to $1 million in a down select process.  Approximately $10 million total will be awarded for a 12-to-24-months award.

  • Whereas Phase 1 will fund planning efforts, Phase 2 will allow teams to fund work needed to make plans deployment ready – such as analyses that inform decision-makers or address community-identified issues. Examples include zoning and siting studies for renewable energy in multiple counties or statewide, building engineering studies for affordable housing retrofit work in a city or region, or capacity expansion modeling to inform deployment of EVs across cities.

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What is the Energy Future Grants Program Technical Assistance Cohorts?

This solicitation is for the EFG Program TA Cohorts. The organization(s) selected through this application process will be supporting the cohorts of the Energy Future Grants awardees. EFG has not yet selected awardees that applied to the Energy Future Grants Funding Opportunity Announcement, which closed November 10, 2023.

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Which phase(s) will the selected organization(s) be supporting?

Program will evaluate applications based on the outlined duration of 12 months.

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What is the funding level for this solicitation?

Up to $900,000 will be awarded for this effort across all selected organizations, with DOE anticipating 1 to 4 organizations being selected for the effort. Award amounts will be contingent on the work you are selected to perform as outlined in the opportunity announcement and your prepared capability statement (part of the application).

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To apply, is it required be an expert in all of the topic areas?

Your application should support the level of expertise and experience that your organization has and can realistically provide. To the greatest extent you can align with the topic areas or focus in on a specific topic area outlined in the evaluation criteria; expertise in all three areas is beneficial, but not a requirement.

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Is there a character count for the application?

There is a 1,000 word count limit for each section, with a 500 word count limit for the core capabilities section and a 500 word count limit for the section describing your organizations approach to organizing cohorts

Questions

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

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