The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), a Rural Development (RD) Agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is soliciting Letters of Interest from eligible entities under the Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) Program.
Donor Name: Rural Utilities Service
State: All States
County: All Counties
U.S Territory: American Samoa, Guam, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/29/2023
Size of the Grant: $100,000,000
Grant Duration: 5 years
Details:
The Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) program is part of the Inflation Reduction Act. With $1 billion in funding, PACE helps make clean, affordable, and reliable energy accessible to the people of rural America. Under PACE, USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) will forgive up to 60 percent of loans for renewable energy projects that use wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, or biomass, as well as for renewable energy storage projects.
The PACE program allocates funding across three applicant categories:
- Category 1: Provides up to 20 percent total loan forgiveness.
- Category 2: Up to 40 percent total loan forgiveness if 50 percent or more of the population served by the proposed service area is located within the following areas:
- Energy Communities; or
- Distressed or Disadvantaged Communities.
- Category 3: Provides up to 60 percent total loan forgiveness if:
- The proposed service area is located in Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands (USVI), Guam, American Samoa or other U.S. territories or Compact of Free Association (COFA) states; or
- The proposed service area consists of 60 percent or more of a Tribal area or serves an area that constitutes a SUTA; or
- The Project is owned by an Indian Tribe defined by the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 , including their wholly owned arms and instrumentalities, or an Alaska Native Corporation, including regional or village corporations, as defined under or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
PACE applicants are encouraged to consider projects that will advance the following Rural Development Key Priorities:
- Assisting rural communities to recover economically through more and better market opportunities and through improved infrastructure;
- Ensuring all rural residents have equitable access to Rural Development (RD) programs and benefits from RD funded projects; and
- Reducing climate pollution and increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change through economic support to rural communities.
Funding Information
- PACE Program has $1,000,000,000 in appropriated funds under the IRA.
- The maximum loan amount, inclusive of the forgivable portion, of any individual Award is limited to $100,000,000.
- The minimum amount of any individual award is $1,000,000.
Performance Period
Five (5) years from the date of environmental clearance, but no later than September 30, 2031..
Eligible Projects
A Project that is eligible to be financed with PACE loan funds includes the construction of a new RER that generates electricity and/or the construction of a new ESS used to store electricity in support of an RER.
Each RER and ESS that is to be financed with PACE loan funds must be installed to provide electrical capacity and/or energy, as well as any ancillary services should they be included, for resale to rural and nonrural residents located in eligible service areas.
The following elements and associated reasonable costs may be included in a PACE LOI submission:
- New facilities that generate electricity from an RER, including facilities that store electricity that support such assets (ESS). RUS will not approve facilities that violate the terms of a PACE Applicant’s existing wholesale power contract.
- New linear facilities, including microgrids and distributed renewable energy, and equipment that are necessary to operate the Project including, but not limited to, transmission or distribution facilities that are needed to export, transmit, and deliver power from the generating facility to the Off-Taker.
- The upgrading of existing linear facilities and equipment that are necessary to operate the Project including, but not limited to, transmission or distribution facilities that are needed to export, transmit, and deliver power from the generating facility to the Off-Taker(s).
- The Project may include one or more RERs and/or ESSs.
- Facilities may be co-located to operate interconnectedly or independently or constructed at separate sites.
- RERs and ESSs must be installed so that the RER can provide energy and any ancillary services for resale to rural and nonrural residents located in Eligible Service Areas.
- Applicants may request interconnection and other costs associated with being able to deliver the RER and/or the ESS to Off-Takers, including related microgrid investments.
Eligible Service Areas
Electricity generated or discharged from facilities shall be provided to both “rural and nonrural residents” located in service areas determined to be eligible under PACE.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible Applicants include:
- For-profit organizations;
- State or local governments;
- Indian tribes defined by the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 , including their wholly arms and instrumentalities;
- Alaska Native Corporations, regional or village corporations as defined under or established pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act
- Nonprofits;
- Institutions of higher education; and
- Community-based organizations, distribution electric cooperatives, and generation and transmission electric cooperatives.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
