DOE Office of Indian Energy Offers Grant for Tribal College and University Clean Energy Transition

DE-FOA-0002977: Notice of Intent Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002978, Transitioning Tribal College and Universities to Clean Energy – 2023

This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of DOE’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All of the information contained in this Notice is subject to change. DOE will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. However, once the FOA has been released, DOE will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.

Through this planned Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), the DOE Office of Indian Energy plans to solicit applications from Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) for:

(1) clean energy project planning (Area of Interest 1); and,

(2) clean energy technology deployment (Area of Interest 2).

For purposes of the planned FOA, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) are defined and eligible based on the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. § 1801(a)(4)), and the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. § 1059), respectively, as follows:

“Tribal Colleges and Universities,” for purposes of the FOA, mean institutions of higher education which are formally controlled, or have been formally sanctioned, or chartered, by the governing body of an Indian tribe or tribes, except that no more than one such institution shall be recognized with respect to any such tribe;

including:

Those institutions cited in section 532 of the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 (7 U.S.C. 301 note), any other institution that qualifies for funding under the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.), and Diné College, authorized in the Navajo Community College Assistance Act of 1978, Public Law 95-471, title II (25 U.S.C. 640a note).

The DOE Office of Indian Energy envisions awarding multiple financial assistance awards in the form of grants. The estimated period of performance for each award will be approximately from two (2) to four (4) years, including for Area of Interest 2 a 12-month mandatory verification period. Under the planned FOA, DOE’s Office of Indian Energy anticipates making awards that range from $100,000 to $250,000 or from $1,000,000 to $3,000,000, depending on the Area of Interest.

The DOE Office of Indian Energy plans to issue the FOA spring of 2023. If Applicants wish to be notified when the FOA is issued, they should subscribe to the DOE Office of Indian Energy email newsletter list on its website homepage (https://energy.gov/indianenergy). When the FOA is released, applications will be accepted only through IE-Exchange (https://ie-exchange.energy.gov). NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH THIS NOTICE. See the attached NOI for more details and the registrations needed prior to submitting an application.

This is a NOI only. DOE may issue a FOA as described herein, may issue a FOA that is significantly different than the FOA described herein, or DOE may not issue a FOA at all.