ATTENTION (9/1/2023): This Funding Opportunity Announcement has been modified and the Submission Deadline for Full Applications has been extended to 5:00 pm EST on 10/26/2023. Please see the full Funding Opportunity Announcement - Mod 000001 in the Announcement Documents section for full details.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), commonly referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) authorizes DOE to invest $1 billion in energy improvements in rural or remote areas. DOE’s Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) Program is managed by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). OCED will provide financial investment, technical assistance, and other resources to advance clean energy demonstrations and energy solutions that benefit rural and remote communities. ERA aims to fund clean energy projects with three specific goals:
1. Deliver measurable benefits to energy customers in rural or remote areas by funding replicable energy projects that lower energy costs, improve energy access and resilience, and/or reduce environmental harm;
2. Support new rural or remote energy system models using climate-resilient technologies, business structures that promote economic resilience, new financing mechanisms, and/or new community engagement practices; and
3. Build clean energy knowledge, capacity, and self-reliance in rural America.
This FOA provides $50 million in Federal funding and is designed to support small community-driven clean energy projects requiring $500,000 to $5 million in Federal funding. Other ERA funding opportunities include DE-FOA-0002970, titled "Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Energy Improvement in Rural or Remote Areas," which provides $5 million to $100 million in Federal funding to community- and large-scale demonstration projects that address region-specific energy challenges, and a $15 million Energizing Rural Communities Prize, which provides up to $300,000 cash prizes to assist development of partnerships and financing models to advance clean energy projects. This FOA utilizes a simplified application process and will award fixed-amount grants. This grant mechanism significantly reduces financial reporting requirements associated with larger DOE awards. Recipients are responsible for accomplishing their proposed work.
Technical Assistance
Technical assistance from DOE’s national laboratories is available for eligible applicants. Technical assistance is available for pre-application preparation through office hours and limited individual sessions. Information on technical assistance, including eligibility and how to apply for it, is available here.
NOTE: Applicants must submit a Pre-Application by 5:00 pm ET on the due date. Only successful pre-applicants will be invited to complete a more detailed full application.
Please refer to FOA Section 4.0 which outlines the required form and content of all application submissions. Word counts and individual page limits provided in the template are approximations; however, the entire Pre-Application must not exceed 10 pages. DOE will review only the information provided to support the questions in the Pre-Application template. Additional information will not be considered. Note that responses provided in the Pre-Application must be verified and/or substantiated in the full application. A template is provided to assist the applicant, but use of the template is not required, and use of the template (or not) has no bearing on how the submission will be reviewed. ERA has updated this template to a word document based on feedback and accessibility; however applicants are free to use the prior PDF template version if they prefer.
For information and guidance please visit the OCED Funding page.