The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Deployment Office (GDO) is soliciting proposals for its Puerto Rico Energy Resilience Fund (PR-ERF) to administer the $1 billion through a program focused on both residential and community-based energy resilience investments, including but not limited to solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage deployments, as well as community partnerships and other activities to grow Puerto Rico’s clean energy economy.
Donor Name: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
State: All States
County: All Counties
U.S. Territory: Puerto Rico
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/18/2023
Size of the Grant: $200M
Grant Duration: 60 months
Details:
In December 2022, Congress appropriated $1 billion in the FY 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act for activities to improve the resilience of the Puerto Rican electric grid, including renewable energy and storage solutions for vulnerable households and communities. Per the Act, these activities will include resilience investments for low-and-moderate income households and households with individuals with disabilities.
This first Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under the PR-ERF has three Strategic Goals:
- Enhance energy resilience for vulnerable households through the rapid installation of rooftop solar PV and battery storage systems. Through this first funding opportunity, DOE aims to incentivize the installation of roughly 30,000-40,000 residential systems.
- Reduce energy burden (i.e., the percentage of gross household income spent on energy costs) for program beneficiaries. Support the growth of the clean energy workforce in Puerto Rico, as well as support education and protection for beneficiaries.
To accomplish these goals, this FOA has three (3) Topic Areas. The three Topic Areas are as follows:
- Topic Area 1: Third-Party Residential Rooftop Solar PV and Battery Storage Deployment
- Topic Area 1 solicits qualified solar companies to deploy third-party residential rooftop solar PV and battery storage system , using commercially available technology, to enhance resilience and provide other benefits as listed above.
- For this Topic Area, the DOE’s network of partner Solar Ambassadors, and not Awarded installers, will engage in outreach efforts to identify beneficiaries. Beneficiaries are either:
- Very low-income single-family households where an individual with an energy dependent disability resides; or
- Very low-income single-family households located in a Last Mile Community.
- Topic Area 2: Community-Sponsored Residential Rooftop Solar PV and Battery Storage Deployment
- Topic Area 2 solicits applications from nonprofits and energy cooperatives to deploy residential solar PV and battery storage installations, using commercially available technology, to enhance resilience and provide other benefits as listed above.
- Topic Area 3: Beneficiary Education, Training, and Consumer Protection
- Topic Area 3: Beneficiary Education, Training, and Consumer Protection Topic Area 3 solicits applications to educate and train beneficiaries of residential solar PV and battery storage deployments in Puerto Rico. While solar companies do perform education and training activities for homeowners as part of their business-as-usual activities, DOE seeks trusted third-parties to enhance homeowners’ knowledge and understanding of the areas outlined below, as well as serve as a consumer protection resource to assist beneficiaries on an ongoing basis with system education, troubleshooting O&M issues, and interfacing with the Consumer Affairs Protection Bureau and other appropriate entities to resolve customer complaints.
- Applications should focus educational activities on the following areas:
- The benefits of solar PV and battery storage systems (resilience, cost savings, etc.),
- Preparedness for extreme weather events,
- Changing energy use during an outage,
- Understanding long-term operations and maintenance,
- Consumer Protection and how to resolve a complaint,
- Understanding contract terms of leases or PPAs, and
- Energy efficiency.
Funding Information
- Third-Party Residential Rooftop Solar PV and Battery Storage Deployment
- Approximate Total Federal Funding Available for All Awards: $380M-$400M
- Anticipated Minimum Award Size for Any One Individual Award (Fed Share): $80M
- Anticipated Maximum Award Size for Any One Individual Award (Fed Share): $200M
- Anticipated Period of Performance for Deployment (months): 60
- Community-Sponsored Residential Rooftop Solar PV and Battery Storage Deployment
- Approximate Total Federal Funding Available for All Awards: $20M-$40M
- Anticipated Minimum Award Size for Any One Individual Award (Fed Share): $500k
- Anticipated Maximum Award Size for Any One Individual Award (Fed Share): $10M
- Anticipated Period of Performance for Deployment (months): 60
- Beneficiary Education, Training, and Consumer Protection
- Approximate Total Federal Funding Available for All Awards: $5M-$10M
- Anticipated Minimum Award Size for Any One Individual Award (Fed Share): $2M
- Anticipated Maximum Award Size for Any One Individual Award (Fed Share): $5M
- Anticipated Period of Performance for Deployment (months): 60
Eligibility Criteria
In accordance with Competition, eligibility for prime award is restricted to:
- Topic Area 1 (Third-Party Residential Rooftop Solar PV and Battery Storage Deployment): Eligibility for prime award is restricted to domestic for-profit entity solar companies.
- Topic Area 2 (Community-Sponsored Residential Rooftop Solar PV and Battery Storage Deployment): Eligibility for prime award is restricted to domestic nonprofit entities and energy cooperatives. Domestic for-profit entities, like solar companies, may be part of the subcontracting structure, but cannot be Prime Recipients.
- Topic Area 3 (Beneficiary Education, Training, and Consumer Protection): Eligibility for prime award is restricted to domestic nonprofit entities, educational institutions, State and local governmental entities, and for profit entities.
“Domestic” means: entities that are organized, chartered, or incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a particular state or territory of the United States and have a physical location for business operations in the United States.
Subrecipient Eligibility
- For-profit entities, educational institutions, and nonprofit entities that are organized, chartered, or incorporated (or otherwise formed) under the laws of a particular state or territory of the United States and have a physical location for business operations in the United States are eligible to apply for funding as a subrecipient.
- State and local governmental entities and Indian tribes are eligible to apply for funding as a subrecipient.
- Entities banned from doing business with the U.S. government such as entities debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participating in federal programs are not eligible.
- Nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 that engaged in lobbying activities after December 31, 1995, are not eligible to apply for funding.
- Foreign entities, whether for-profit or otherwise, are NOT eligible to apply for funding under this FOA. Information that must be included in a request to waive this requirement. The Applicant does not have the right to appeal DOE’s decision concerning a waiver request.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
