Grants for County governments - Energy

This funding opportunity provides substantial financial support for universities, businesses, and governments to develop and implement innovative technologies that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, promoting environmental sustainability and community benefits.

The Equitable and Affordable Solutions to Electrification (EAS-E) Home Electrification Prize offers up to $2.4 million in prizes for innovative solutions that advance the electrification retrofits of residential homes across all building types and geographies. The goal is to make electrification more affordable and accessible in existing U.S. homes, with a focus on equitable solutions for all homeowners, including those in low-income and under-resourced communities. The prize supports design solutions, tools, and technology innovations that enable the switch to electric products and reduce carbon emissions. Low-power electrification solutions are strongly encouraged. The competition consists of two phases: Phase 1 focuses on presenting proposed solutions and up to five winners receive a $5,000 cash prize and a $75,000 voucher to work with DOE national laboratories. Phase 2 involves finalizing teams, demonstrating functional prototype solutions, and up to three winners receive prizes, with a top prize of $1 million. The competition is open to individuals, private entities, nonfederal government entities, and academic institutions. For more information, refer to the official rules document.

The Spark Cleantech Accelerator program supports early stage cleantech businesses and drive commercialization of their technologies in Tennessee. Donor Name: UT Research Park State: Tennessee County: All Counties Type of Grant: Program Deadline: 05/15/2024 Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000 Grant Duration: Less than 1 Year Details: The Spark CTA was created in partnership with Evergreen Climate Innovations (previously Clean Energy Trust) and other partners to support early stage cleantech businesses and drive commercialization of their technologies in Tennessee and throughout the Midwest and the Southeast. The Spark Cleantech Accelerator is a 12-week program and the UT Research Park in Knoxville, Tennessee. The program provides mentorship, connections, stipends, prototyping services, and business acceleration services to early stage cleantech entrepreneurs to help commercialize new innovations. In 12-week, in-person program, the offer: $15,000 Stipends to help defray travel/living costs and to support business and technical milestones Prototyping services through the University of Tennessee’s Center for Materials Processing, Mentoring and one-on-one support from our experts in business, market analysis and positioning, and IP/ patent strategy, product design, engineering, prototyping, testing, material selection, tooling design, and manufacturing, Connections with customers, investors, strategic partners, suppliers, and universities and national laboratories, Training Workshops and one-on-one support. Partnership opportunities with organizations such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, Oak Ridge National Lab, the University of Tennessee, the City of Knoxville, and members of the Tennessee Advanced Energy Business Council. Eligibility Criteria Application from Tennessee, the Midwest, and beyond. Companies that demonstrate a positive impact to energy efficiency, generate renewable energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, carbon capture, increase recycling/upcycling and a circular economy. Companies that show strong market potential and defensible intellectual property, with issued patents or pending patents filed. Those who demonstrate their technology can support the challenges and needs of Spark partners, such as utilities, local governments, universities, manufacturing companies, commercial building operators, etc. Those that create software of hardware technologies including intelligent connected devices, advanced materials process, or with technology companies at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 2-6. Applicants who are open to Tennessee as a permanent business location. For more information, visit UT Research Park.

The purpose of the EECBG Program is to assist eligible local governments ("eligible entities") in implementing strategies to reduce fossil fuel emissions, reduce total energy use, improve energy efficiency, and build a clean and equitable energy economy. The Illinois EPA Office of Energy identified the following project topic areas for funding eligibility: Energy Planning and Energy Efficiency: Energy Audits, Building Upgrades. Entities may develop various programs and projects that address one or more of the purposes in a cost effective manner that is of maximum benefit to the population served. Funding may not be used for regularly scheduled maintenance.

This funding opportunity provides up to $1.3 billion to support the development and demonstration of advanced carbon capture technologies for power generation and industrial sectors, targeting a wide range of eligible applicants including educational institutions, nonprofits, and businesses.

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) has launched the Community Solar Energy Sovereignty Grant Program, aimed at supporting the pre-development and development of community solar projects. With an allocation of $8.5 million, the program offers grants ranging from $50,000 to $1,000,000 to facilitate community ownership and energy sovereignty in Illinois, particularly in equity investment eligible communities. These include areas affected by economic exclusion and pollution, as identified in the Restore Reinvest Renew (R3) Areas and Environmental Justice Communities. The program emphasizes community benefits, local wealth building, and addresses capital barriers in disadvantaged populations. Activities eligible for funding include early stage planning, team organization, site identification, financing, and customer outreach, with a focus on creating sustainable community solar cooperatives.

This funding opportunity provides $10,000 to individual artists in Illinois to support their professional development and enhance community engagement through their creative practices.

The Community Energy Management (CEM) Program, administered by the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), offers grants to improve energy management, increase energy efficiency, and promote renewable energy adoption for local governments and tribes. This program is part of the EGLE Catalyst Communities Initiative, supporting Governor Whitmer’s climate change priorities. The grant period runs from January 1, 2024, to August 31, 2025, with a total of $5,850,000 available, sourced from the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Energy Program (SEP) and Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG). Projects must focus on energy efficiency upgrades, renewable energy installations, fleet electrification, EV charging infrastructure, and clean energy workforce development. The application deadline is June 30, 2024, or until funds are exhausted.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to community organizations, individuals, and groups in Massachusetts that work to improve access to clean energy and reduce energy burdens for underserved populations.

This grant provides funding to companies and coalitions developing innovative energy storage solutions that integrate with renewable energy sources like solar and electric vehicles, promoting better management and stability of the electrical grid.

The solicitation is to fund a project that will evaluate the feasibility of using existing underground gas storage facilities to store clean renewable hydrogen in California. Donor Name: California Energy Commission (CEC) State: California County: All Counties Type of Grant: Grant Deadline: 06/28/2024 Size of the Grant: More than $1 million Grant Duration: 3 Years Details: This project will develop technical and economic assessments of storing and retrieving hydrogen blends and/or pure hydrogen as well as California-specific decision-making tools, risk mitigation strategies, market and policy recommendations, and community engagement approaches related to those facilities. Project Focus  Research under this solicitation will support comprehensive technical and economic feasibility assessments of at least two existing underground gas storage facilities in California for their potential to store clean renewable hydrogen. The project is encouraged to assess a selection of geographically diverse sites (i.e., a Northern California site and Southern California site). The project must meet the following requirements: Engage with local communities and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) located around the selected sites for the study and assess the communities’ awareness of and support for underground hydrogen storage. Leverage feedback and learnings from this engagement to inform an experimental design responsive to community interests and concerns. Inform communities of project results and potential impacts of underground hydrogen storage. Study the characteristics of two selected sites representing existing underground gas storage facilities in California and conduct experiments to assess potential impacts of introducing hydrogen to the selected sites. Experiments should be inclusive of use cases involving storage as well as retrieval of hydrogen blends and sufficiently pure hydrogen for separation and end-use needs. Proposals for small-scale pilot testing or field experiments are eligible but must include a robust risk mitigation strategy. At a minimum, experiments should examine: Well integrity including the direct impacts to equipment and mechanical barriers from hydrogen exposure, and the impacts of subsurface environmental and microbial changes following hydrogen injection. Deliverability and reservoir dynamics such as permeability, viscosity, injection and withdrawal optimization, and potential hydrogen losses due to leakage, microbial activity, and time-dependent changes in the subsurface environment. Necessary mitigation measures (e.g., material selection, inspection tools, operational changes) to ensure safety and reliability. Conduct a quantitative risk assessment and techno-economic analysis for converting the selected underground gas storage facilities to store clean renewable hydrogen . This assessment will: Compare costs and risks of potential use cases, considering interactions with connected gas infrastructure (e.g., storage and delivery of hydrogen blends, storage of hydrogen blends with separation at the surface, storage and distribution of pure hydrogen). Estimate levelized cost of hydrogen storage, levelized total capital costs, and operations and maintenance costs for the selected sites, leveraging existing frameworks such as the Local-Scale Framework for Techno-Economic Analysis of Subsurface Hydrogen Storage,  considering California-specific characteristics. Develop recommendations for Gas IOUs, CBOs, policymakers, and relevant stakeholders to support decision making on next steps pertaining to the role of underground hydrogen storage in California, which may include additional R&D or demonstrations. Optional but desired project elements include: Compare the levelized cost of hydrogen storage and life-cycle emissions between underground hydrogen storage and alternative storage options like hydrogen carriers and conversion of hydrogen into synthetic methane. In addition to studying existing underground gas storage facilities, also examine potential of storing hydrogen in saline aquifers in preferable locations that allow for reuse of existing gas pipeline infrastructure. Funding Information There is up to $3,000,000 available for the grant awarded under this solicitation. The minimum funding amount for the project is $2,500,000. The maximum funding amount is $3,000,000. Grant Period November 1, 2024 – September 30, 2027. Eligibility Criteria  This solicitation is open to all public and private entities. Demonstration projects in this solicitation must be located in the service territory of a California gas Investor Owned Utility (Gas IOU), which includes Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas & Electric Company, and Southern California Gas Company. All projects in this solicitation must benefit Gas IOU ratepayers. For more information, visit CEC.

This program provides financial assistance to low-income families to improve their homes' energy efficiency, helping them save on energy costs while ensuring their health and safety.

This grant aims to fund innovative projects that increase demand flexibility in the Industrial, Agricultural, and Water (IAW) sectors, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing grid stability, and developing new technologies and strategies for load shifting, in line with California's goal of achieving a 7,000 MW load shift by 2030.

This grant provides funding for innovative projects that enhance energy storage technologies to improve grid reliability and support California's transition to 100% clean energy.

This funding opportunity supports U.S. and Japanese organizations in creating innovative projects that strengthen U.S.-Japan relations through public engagement in areas like security, democracy, and entrepreneurship.

The "Innovative Queue Management Solutions (iQMS) Demonstration Program - Generator Interconnection (TRACK 1)" is a grant program that provides funding to U.S. electric distribution utilities to develop and implement innovative solutions for managing and accelerating the processing of clean energy projects, with the aim of reducing costs, shortening timelines, and supporting the nation's decarbonization goals.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to state, local, and Tribal governments, as well as non-profit organizations, to improve energy efficiency in low-income homes and develop a skilled workforce in the clean energy sector.

This funding opportunity is designed to assist rural communities in Michigan by supporting projects that enhance land-based industries and infrastructure.

Grid Enhancement Grant Subaward Program Program Description The Grid Enhancement Grant Subaward program allocates funds for utility infrastructure investments in Arkansas. Leveraging federal funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), this program aims to modernize and strengthen America’s power grid, particularly against natural disasters, while fostering economic development within the state. The funding will support projects delivering direct benefits to Arkansans by bolstering grid resilience, mitigating outages during disasters, and promoting investments in the state’s grid workforce. Program Objectives Funds provided through this subaward program are intended to achieve the following objectives: Increase the Reliability of the Arkansas Electric Grid Achieve Whole Community Impact Support the Development of the State’s Grid Workforce For further details on these objectives, refer to the state Program Narrative below. Eligible Entities Eligible applicants encompass Arkansas electric utilities such as investor-owned electric utilities, electric cooperatives, and municipal electric utilities. Additionally, electric grid operators, electricity storage operators, electricity generators, transmission owners or operators, distribution providers, and fuel suppliers are eligible. Timeline Application period opens: April 2, 2024. Deadline for proposal submission and SF-424 form: 5 PM CT, Friday, July 19, 2024. DFA encourages eligible entities to review the application, guidance, and FAQ document promptly. Questions should be directed to [email protected] by April 30, 2024. DFA will respond to broadly applicable questions by updating the FAQ document due to the program's competitive nature. For additional information or inquiries, please contact [email protected].

The purpose of this solicitation is to fund demonstrations of community-based virtual power plant (VPP) approaches and demonstrations of innovative energy management systems (EMS) in commercial buildings with the goal of increasing demand flexibility. Demand flexibility refers to comprehensive programs and strategies that align electricity consumption with dynamic grid conditions. These can include both event-based demand response (DR) and load shifting strategies. Accelerating demand flexibility is a key strategy for California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the state’s climate and clean energy goals reliably and affordably.    VPPs are portfolios of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as smart thermostats, rooftop solar photovoltaics, electric vehicles (EVs), batteries, and smart water heaters that are actively controlled by software to benefit the power system, consumers, and the environment. While these resources have the potential to meet grid needs as reliably as conventional alternatives such as gas-fired generators, their advantages extend further, offering greater affordability and substantial decarbonization benefits.[3] However, research and development of both technologies and business models is needed to fully capitalize on and understand VPPs’ potential, especially the systems that feature predictive controls and require minimal consumer engagement. The examples of predictive controls relevant to this research include, but are not limited to, the use of artificial intelligence or model predictive controls for EV load shifting or building pre-cooling applications.   Projects will be funded in two groups. Group 1: Virtual Power Plants: Demonstrations that showcase community-based demand flexibility programs as a long-term (10 or more years) grid resource. Project teams must partner with local governments or non-profits to facilitate customer participation and smart device installations. Projects must evaluate the benefits and cost-effectiveness of community-based VPP approaches that use state-of-the-art DER management software (DERMS).   ·       Group 2: Commercial Building Energy Management in Low-Income or Disadvantaged Communities: Demonstrations of innovative EMS in commercial buildings focused on specific characteristics such as interoperability and adherence to open-source standards. Demonstrations require participation in electric investor-owned utility (IOU) or third-party DR programs and partnerships with device and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). These projects must showcase the latest advancements in energy management in the commercial sector and ensure technology adaptability, efficiency, and collaboration within the broader energy landscape.