The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office), through the Department of Energy (DOE), has made available $54 million in new federal funding for projects that will expand community e-mobility access and provide clean reliable energy. The funding will drive innovation in equitable clean transportation and is aligned with strategies detailed in the U.S. National Blueprint for Transportation Decarbonization. This program will make strategic investments at the local level that address key barriers to expanding access to electrified mobility options for individuals without home charging; accelerate the transition to electrified fleets; and mature the implementation of managed charging systems to mitigate impacts and optimize usage of the grid.

The Hydroelectric Production Incentive Program was authorized by Congress through Section 242 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The program, led by the U.S Department of Energy (DOE), provides incentive payments to qualified hydroelectric facilities for electricity generated and sold. In November 2021, Congress also directed $125 million for the program through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Incentive payments shall be calculated as follows: the amount of eligible kWhs
produced by the hydroelectric generation facility is multiplied by the statutory incentive rate of $0.018/kWh, which is adjusted as required by 42 U.S.C. § 15881(e)(2).

The Advanced Energy Manufacturing and Recycling Grant Program is designed to provide grants to small- and medium-sized manufacturers to enable them to build new or retrofit existing manufacturing and industrial facilities in communities where coal mines or coal power plants have closed. These facilities will produce or recycle advanced energy products or contribute to emissions reductions within the manufacturing sector. DOE has released a $425 million funding opportunity announcement for round 2 projects.

This FOA seeks applications with project teams ready to advance building energy codes within a particular region, state, or local jurisdiction. To drive sustained improvements, BIL emphasizes the importance of strategic partnerships, which must include a State or Tribal government agency, and may include other organizations, such as State or local building departments, builders, contractors, architects, engineers, other design and construction professionals, academia, research, trade organizations, consumer advocates, regional or community energy efficiency organizations, labor unions, apprenticeship programs, and other stakeholders who play an important role supporting the successful adoption and implementation of building codes. Funding provided through this FOA is specifically designed to update building energy codes and ensure the cost-effective implementation of these updated codes at the state and local level.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in collaboration with its Partnership Intermediary, ENERGYWERX, has re-opened applications for small and medium-sized manufacturing firms (SMMs) to receive grants of up to $300,000 per funding round, at 50% cost share, to implement recommendations made in IAC assessments and/or DOE Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnership (CHP TAP) assessments – including what are now called “Onsite Energy TAP” assessments – and, once qualified, other assessments submitted previously for qualification as “IAC-equivalent.”

The Energy Auditor Training (EAT) Program will provide Grant funding to States for the purpose of training individuals to conduct energy audits, or surveys, of commercial and residential buildings. This program was established by Section 40503 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). The goals of the program are to offer auditor training certifications that include informed curriculum and program design that aligns with current and future standards; inform or empower States with current, standardized framing of the education and training requirements for energy auditors; enlarge the pipeline of diverse talent by closing gaps in job access; address workforce inclusion deficiencies and improve disparities with underrepresented groups; connect auditor trainees to career opportunities that promote job quality and economic mobility; and inspire sustainability through intentional practices and partnerships that support infrastructure development and the long-term value of a clean energy workforce

Projects selected under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Storage Validation and Testing program will develop new and expanded carbon storage projects through FECM’s Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) Initiative, each with the capacity to store 50 or more million metric tons of CO2 over a 30-year period. Multiple openings of this funding opportunity allow for the continuous development of commercial-scale carbon storage infrastructure, with projects focusing on feasibility determination, detailed site characterization, planning, permitting, and construction stages of project development.

This FOA seeks applications to address the recycling of EV batteries to support
the establishment of a robust domestic critical materials supply chain. The
activities funded under this FOA include projects that reduce the costs
associated with the transport, disassembly, and preprocessing of EOL EV
batteries for battery recycling and that demonstrate the recycling of plastic EV
battery accessory components. These Topic Areas will support the development
of a domestic critical materials supply chain by ensuring that EV battery recycling
is a financially viable endeavor.

RAISE discretionary grants help project sponsors at the state and local levels, including municipalities, Tribal governments, counties, and others complete critical freight and passenger transportation infrastructure projects. The eligibility requirements of RAISE allow project sponsors to obtain funding for projects that may be harder to support through other U.S. DOT grant programs. Half of the funding will go to projects in rural areas, and half of the funding will go to projects in urban areas. At least $15 million in funding is guaranteed to go towards projects located in Areas of Persistent Poverty or Historically Disadvantaged Communities, and projects located in these areas will be eligible for up to 100 percent federal cost share, as directed in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

This FOA aims to reach across both the midstream and downstream segments of the battery supply chain, supporting both midstream battery materials and component manufacturing, as well as subsequent cell manufacturing and end of life recycling. It is anticipated that the FOA would increase domestic battery manufacturing and create good-paying clean energy jobs. The overall FOA scope includes commercial facilities for battery-grade precursor materials, constituent materials, battery components, and cell manufacturing and recycling.

DOE will invest approximately $3.9 billion across three programs covered by this FOA for the Fiscal Years (FY) 2024 through FY 2025 to deploy technologies to increase grid reliability and resilience. Together DOE refers to these programs as the Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) program. The GRIP Program focuses on these topic areas:

• Grid Resilience Grants – supports activities that reduce the likelihood and consequence of impacts to the electric grid due to extreme weather, wildfire, and natural disaster.
• Smart Grid Grants – supports projects that will achieve the goals and objectives set out in FOA Section I.A.ii through innovative and ambitious uses of cutting-edge, market-ready technologies.
• Grid Innovation Program – seeks applications that may include technical and/or non-technical (e.g., focused on regulatory or business model innovation) approaches that improve grid reliability and resilience on the local, regional, and interregional scales.

The purpose of the FCT competitive grant program is to make annual grants available to eligible airports for airport-owned airport traffic control tower (ATCT) projects that address the aging infrastructure of the nation’s airports. The FAA will consider ATCT projects that sustain, construct, repair, improve, rehabilitate, modernize, replace, or relocate non-approach control towers; or acquire and install air traffic control, communications, and related equipment to be used in those towers; or construct a remote tower certified by the FAA including acquisition and installation of air traffic control, communications, or related equipment.