The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the $500 million Renew America’s Schools Program to promote the implementation of energy improvements at K-12 public schools across the country. This is a first-of-its-kind investment made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program supports the implementation of infrastructure improvements in schools, with a focus on local educational agencies (LEAs) that qualify as rural and/or high poverty.

The 2025 Renew America’s Schools Prize consists of three phases. During Phase 1, competitors will build teams and curate lists of at least 10 schools and school facilities that demonstrate compelling need and eligibility for investment. Up to 14 Phase 1 Winners will earn a cash prize of $300,000 for successfully building teams and submitting compelling applications identifying need. DOE will down select to identify winners who may move on to Phases 2 and 3, wherein they will enter and execute Cooperative Agreements with DOE.

The purpose of the Community Wildfire Defense Grant is to assist at-risk local communities and Indian Tribes with planning and mitigating against the risk created by wildfire.

The Act prioritizes at-risk communities in an area identified as having high or very high wildfire hazard potential, are low-income, and/or have been impacted by a severe disaster. More details on these three priorities can be found in the Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs).

The CWDG helps communities in the wildland urban interface (WUI) implement the three goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy):

• Restore and Maintain Landscapes: Landscapes, regardless of jurisdictional boundaries, are resilient to fire, insect, disease, invasive species, and climate change disturbances, in accordance with management objectives.
• Create Fire Adapted Communities: Human populations and infrastructure are as prepared as possible to receive, respond to, and recover from wildland fire.
• Improve Wildfire Response: All jurisdictions participate in making and implementing safe, effective, efficient risk-based wildfire management decisions.

The purpose of this solicitation is to award grants to fund projects focused on geothermal energy and lithium recovery from geothermal brine that support local jurisdictions and private entities to advance the geothermal sector and related activities per Public Resource Code (PRC) Sections 3800-3827 and California Code of Regulations (CCR) Sections 1660-1665. Under no circumstances will loans be issued under this solicitation.

TRIBAL CLEAN ENERGY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT – 2025 Under this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the DOE Office of Indian Energy is soliciting applications from Indian Tribes, which include Alaska Native Regional Corporations and Village Corporations, Intertribal Organizations, and Tribal Energy Development Organizations to: (1) Conduct clean energy planning (Topic Area 1); (2) Comprehensively assess the feasibility and viability of deploying clean energy technology (Topic Area 2); or, (3) Conduct clean energy design and development activities (Topic Area 3). Unless DOE approves a requested cost share reduction from 10% to 0%, all Applicants are required to provide non-federal cost share of at least 10% of the total allowable costs of the project (i.e., the sum of the federal share and the non-federal Recipient cost share of allowable costs equals the total allowable cost of the project). If requested by the Applicant as part of its application, a cost share reduction from 10% to 0% may be considered based on financial need, specifically (1) poverty rate, or (2) median household income of the tribal community as a percentage of statewide median household income. (see Section III.B.2. of the FOA and ‘Application Forms and Templates’ for this FOA on IE-Exchange). DOE expects to make approximately $25 million of federal funding available for new awards under this FOA. The actual level of funding, if any, depends on Congressional appropriations. DOE anticipates making approximately 20 to 40 awards under this FOA. DOE may issue awards in one, multiple, or none of the Topic Areas. See the FOA document in IE-Exchange for a full description.

The Secretary of the Interior (“Secretary”), through the Division of Energy and Mineral Development (DEMD), Office of Trust Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), is soliciting grant proposals from Federally recognized tribal entities to build Tribal capacity for energy resource regulation and management. The Tribal Energy Development Capacity (TEDC) grant program seeks to develop the Tribal management, organizational and technical capacity needed to maximize the economic impact of energy resource development on Federally recognized tribal land. TEDC grants equip Federally recognized tribal entities to regulate and manage their energy resources through development of organizational and business structures and legal and regulatory infrastructure. Examples of projects TEDC grants may fund include establishment of Tribal business charters under Federal, state, or Tribal law with a focus on energy resource development; adoption and/or implementation of a secured transactions code; feasibility studies on forming a Tribal utility authority; and development of Tribal energy regulations.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Utility and Grid Operator Technical Assistance program is designed to solve real-time technical challenges or near-term planning challenges utilities are facing as they transition to clean energy. This application is for utilities and grid operators seeking up to 100 hours of subject matter expertise from NREL and other DOE labs. Focus areas include load forecasting, distribution system planning, distributed energy resources, vehicle-grid integration, building electrification, transmission and distribution coordination, bulk-power planning

In the NAIRR Pilot, the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the US Department of Energy (DOE), and numerous private and non-profit sector partners are providing an opportunity for the research community to request access to a set of computing, model, platform and educational resources for projects related to advancing AI research. This call for proposals will be open from May 6, 2024, until the end of the NAIRR Pilot program or until all resources have been committed to projects. Projects will be awarded for twelve (12) months duration.

Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) DE-FOA-0003371 FY24 Scale-up of Integrated Biorefineries supports higher risk bioenergy technologies that are ready to scale, ultimately demonstrating feedstock-conversion variations, or production pathways, to support commercialization and meet the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge goal of 35 billion gallons per year of SAF production by 2050 and the Clean Fuels and Products Shot goal of 50% projected demand for maritime, rail, off-road, and renewable carbon-based chemicals by 2050.The activities to be funded under this FOA will support the advancement of cost-shared research, development, and demonstration projects with partners in industry, academia, and the National Laboratories focused on the design, construction, operation, and validation of new technology and feedstock pathways for engineering scale integrated biorefineries. The intent of this FOA is to reduce technology uncertainty and risk through cost-shared pilot- and demonstration-scale biorefinery projects. The FOA would support BETO’s multi-year strategic goals to 1) decarbonize the transportation sector through the production of cost-effective SAF and other strategic fuels, and 2) decarbonize the industrial sector through cost-effective and sustainable chemicals, materials, and processes utilizing biomass and waste resources.

The purpose of this solicitation is to advance the technical, economic, and environmental viability of innovative DAC technologies to meet the state’s carbon neutrality goals. This can include testing, piloting, and demonstrating advanced technologies, coupled with active community engagement, benefits planning, and community education.

The goal of the Technical Assistance (TA) program is to assist transmission planners in incorporating energy equity as an objective in their planning. The TA will be targeted to transmission planners including Regional Transmission Operators (RTOs), Independent System Operators (ISOs), Power Market Administrators (PMAs), and utilities. The ITP TA will be delivered through a two-tiered approach—Tier I: Capacity Building and Tier II: Advanced Capacity Building. In Tier I, participants will learn how to better integrate energy equity in transmission planning through consultation, presentations, workshops and webinars, and other relevant resources. Tier II is designed to offer an advanced technical assistance program on energy equity in transmission planning through deep-dive analysis, modeling, and analytical support (e.g., framework development, proof of concept, etc.).

The New York State Clean Mobility Program will help communities launch/expand innovative zero-emission transportation options that can help reduce reliance on personal vehicles. The Clean Mobility Program will fund projects that will help overcome persistent transportation challenges, especially in underserved communities, and improve access to affordable zero-emission transportation options. Under this PON, Planning and Demonstration Tracks will offer technical assistance and implementation funding to local governments, transit operators, community-based organizations/non-profits, and local employers or groups of employers with a total of at least 1,000 employees in New York State (collectively referred to as “Eligible Entities”).

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (Office of Indian Energy) is seeking collaboration with up to four regional nonprofit intertribal organizations as a pilot program to coordinate, collaborate, and partner with the Office of Indian Energy. The purpose of this opportunity (or project) is to help federally recognized Tribes navigate and access DOE clean energy funding and technical assistance opportunities by amplifying DOE messaging and creating effective engagement opportunities for member Tribes. Funding will support communication, internal organizational capacity-building, and engagement activities, with the goal of building long-lasting effective working relationships with Tribal elected leaders and, key staff, and DOE.