2023 Funding Opportunity Announcement for Energy Future Grants (EFG) Creating a Community-Led Energy Future | DE FOA 0002870

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002870

The Department of Energy (DOE), through its Golden Field Office, released the 2023 Funding Opportunity Announcement for the Energy Future Grants (EFG) program, titled "Creating a Community-Led Energy Future" (Funding Opportunity Number: DE-FOA-0002870). This discretionary funding opportunity is structured as a cooperative agreement and is intended to help governments work together on forward-looking clean energy planning that is designed around community needs, especially in places that have historically been left out of the benefits of energy investment. In total, DOE is making $27 million available to advance clean energy program innovation, with an emphasis on practical planning efforts that can remove barriers to deployment and position communities to move faster from ideas to implementation.

A central goal of EFG is to improve energy affordability and access while ensuring the advantages of the clean energy economy reach disadvantaged communities. The opportunity explicitly connects clean energy planning to tangible public benefits such as improved health outcomes, local economic development, job creation, and reductions in harmful emissions. In other words, this is not only about technical energy planning; it is about building programs that deliver measurable community benefits, particularly where energy burdens are high or where pollution and underinvestment have been persistent challenges.

EFG is designed around collaboration across jurisdictions. DOE expects to fund at least 50 multi-jurisdictional teams, and the program strongly prefers teams made up of three to four (or more) partners drawn from state, local, and/or federally recognized tribal governments. The intent is to encourage partnerships that reflect how energy systems and transportation networks operate in reality, cutting across city lines, county boundaries, and tribal lands. Examples of eligible team structures include collaborations between states and cities, tribes and cities, or coalitions that include states, cities, and tribes working together on a shared planning effort.

While government entities are the eligible applicants (state governments, county governments, city or township governments, and federally recognized tribal governments), EFG also encourages teams to broaden their partnerships to ensure plans are grounded in community priorities and informed by implementers. Community benefit organizations are specifically encouraged as partners to help ensure that proposed strategies are shaped by community experience and can credibly deliver local benefits. In addition, teams may include other supportive partners such as universities, think tanks, and utilities, particularly when those partners can help translate innovative or early-stage concepts into workable solutions and help address common obstacles to clean energy adoption.

The projects funded under EFG focus on innovative planning efforts across key sectors, including power, transportation, and buildings. Planning could involve developing new program designs, regional strategies, or coordinated approaches that help jurisdictions adopt clean energy solutions more efficiently and equitably. The program frames "innovation" as novel approaches or early action ideas that can be scaled, meaning DOE is looking for plans that do more than describe goals; they should chart a path to implementation and replication, either regionally or nationally, by leveraging DOE support and other public or private resources.

Equity and accountability are built into the structure of the program through its alignment with Justice40, the federal initiative directing that 40 percent of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities. EFG plans are expected to provide clear direction on how benefits will be delivered and measured, reinforcing the idea that clean energy progress should be trackable in terms of who benefits, how, and to what extent. Successful applications, therefore, are likely to be those that integrate equitable program design with concrete benefit pathways, credible partnerships, and a realistic strategy for scaling best practices beyond a single pilot area.

Key administrative details from the announcement include an award ceiling of $500,000 per award and an anticipated total of 50 awards. The opportunity was posted on July 24, 2023, and the original application closing date was September 30, 2023. The funding activity category is energy and the CFDA number listed is 81.041. Full program requirements, application instructions, and evaluation criteria are provided through the Clean Energy Infrastructure Funding Opportunity Exchange at https://infrastructure-exchange.energy.gov/Default.aspx, where applicants can access the complete FOA document.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "2023 Funding Opportunity Announcement for Energy Future Grants (EFG) Creating a Community-Led Energy Future" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.041.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 24, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 30, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 50 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized).

Apply for DE FOA 0002870

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: