DOE: Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas 2025

The Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) funding opportunity provides support for rural and remote communities to build clean energy projects that benefit their communities.

Donor Name: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

State: All States

County: All Counties

Type of Grant: Grant

Deadline: 08/28/2025

Size of the Grant: More than $1 million

Grant Duration: 5-10 Years

Details:

Rural and remote areas often have higher energy costs and burden, less resilient energy systems, and fewer alternatives for accessing clean energy compared with their urban counterparts. Furthermore, small communities do not always have the available time, money, or other resources to pursue clean energy options.

The goals of the program are to:

Deliver measurable and sustained benefits to people who live in rural or remote areas by funding replicable clean energy projects that lower energy costs, improve energy access and resilience, increase economic opportunity, and/or reduce environmental harm.
Demonstrate effective rural or remote energy system approaches using climate-resilient technologies, business structures that promote economic resilience, accessible and appropriate financing mechanisms, and/or best practices in community leadership and engagement, and workforce development.
Build clean energy knowledge, experience, capacity, and self-reliance in rural and remote parts of America.

This program serves communities of 10,000 people or fewer. Applicants must propose projects that support at least one of these eligible activities:

Improving overall cost-effectiveness of energy generation, transmission, or distribution systems;
Siting or upgrading transmission and distribution lines;
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from energy generation in rural or remote areas;
Providing or modernizing electric generation facilities;
Developing microgrids; and
Increasing energy efficiency.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Program Funding: $400,000,000.

Open category
- Expected award size per project: $10M–$50M
- Total expected award amount for topic area: $150M
- Cost share from applicant: 50%, or 20% for Indian Tribes, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education
Dual use and co-location
- Expected award size per project: $10M–$50M
- Total expected award amount for topic area: $175M
- Cost share from applicant: 50%, or 20% for Indian Tribes, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education
Smaller-scale community-centered
- Expected award size per project: $2M–$10M
- Total expected award amount for topic area: $50M
- Cost share from applicant: 20%, or 5% for Indian Tribes, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education
Isolated microgrids & unelectrified buildings
- Expected award size per project: $2M–$10M
- Total expected award amount for topic area: $25M
- Cost share from applicant: 20%, or 5% for Indian Tribes, state and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education.

Grant Period

Project periods depend on the scope of the projects and will not exceed 7 years.

Eligibility Criteria

Section 40103(c) of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law defines rural or remote areas as a “city, town, or unincorporated area that has a population of not more than 10,000 inhabitants.” Applicants must identify at least one area in the United States (including U.S. territories) with a population of not more than 10,000 (using the 2020 Census Bureau figures) that will benefit from the proposal. The identified area must be either: (a) a city, town, or other incorporated municipality, or (b) a Census Designated Place (CDP), Census County Division (CCD), or similarly discrete and identifiable community that is not located within an incorporated municipality.

The following types of entities are eligible to apply for this funding—either as a recipient or subrecipient: