Making a modernization plan and building a team
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Making a modernization plan and building a team
You’ve narrowed the set of potential technologies that may address your need. You are now conducting scenario planning and also building your team. Key considerations may include:
- Scenario Planning:
- Compare multiple technologies or implementation approaches based on cost-effectiveness, performance requirements, necessary ancillary upgrade requirements or other key factors.
- Combine considerations from internal priorities, community energy needs assessment, feasibility study and team building to select preferred scenario.
- Workforce Requirements:
- Determine and assess the staff capabilities and needs.
- Team Formation:
- Planning and team building may start at different times but will influence each other. Begin engaging with key stakeholders and building the coalition that will be needed for the project to succeed.
Funding resources to support making a modernization plan and building a team
| Opportunity | Program Objectives | Eligibility (who is eligible to apply) | Funding type (grant to community, technical assistance, loan, …) | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) - Clean Community to Communities (C2C) Program | Accelerates the deployment of clean energy systems that are reflective of local and regional priorities. | Local governments, electric utilities, community-based groups, and others | Technical assistance | Clean Energy to Communities Program | Department of Energy | In-depth technical partnership: Multiyear partnership for cross-sector modeling, analysis, and validation paired with direct funding- Peer-learning cohorts- Expert matches: short term assistance (40-60 hrs) with one or more technical experts |
| Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) - Onsite Energy Program | Provide technical assistance, market analysis, and best practices to help industrial facilities and other large energy users increase the adoption of onsite clean energy technologies. | Industrial facilities, large energy users | Technical assistance | Onsite Energy Program | Department of Energy | |
| Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) - Renewable Advancing Community Resilience (RACER) | Supporting projects that enable communities to use solar and solar-plus-storage to prevent disruptions in power caused by extreme weather and other events, and to rapidly restore electricity if it goes down. | Utilities, municipal planners, emergency responders, community groups, and others, especially in underserved communities | Grant | Renewables Advancing Community Energy Resilience (RACER) Funding Program | Department of Energy | |
| Office of Indian Energy | Catalyze Tribal energy development, efficiency and use, reduce or stabilize energy costs, enhance and strengthen Tribal energy infrastructure, and deliver affordable reliable energy to Tribal lands and homes. | Indian Tribe, which includes Alaska Native Regional Corporations or Village Corporations, an Intertribal Organization, or a Tribal Energy Development Organization | Financial Assistance, Technical Assistance, Education ad Capacity Buildings | Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs | Department of Energy | The Office of Indian Energy provides financial assistance on a competitive basis to develop and deploy energy infrastructure and technology. E.g., conduct clean energy planning, comprehensively assess feasibility and viability of deploying clean energy technology, and conduct clean energy design and development activities. - The Office of Indian Energy provides technical assistance to advance Tribal energy projects - The Office of Indian Energy helps build local Tribal capacity through webinars, workshops, and workforce development opportunities |
| USDA Rural Development (U.S. Department of Agriculture) – Electric Programs | Provide leadership and capital to maintain, expand, upgrade, and modernize America's vast rural electric infrastructure -There is a line in this table where the row is messed up and the program objectives are in the "Opportunity" column. | Electric utilities (wholesale and retail providers) serving rural customers, nonprofit organizations, cooperatives, associations, and public bodies. | Direct loans, loan guarantees, grants, loan forgiveness | Electric Programs | Rural Development | Denali Commission High Energy Cost Grants - Distributed Generation Energy Project Financing - Electric Infrastructure Loan & Loan Guarantee Program - Empowering Rural America New ERA Program - Energy Efficiency and Conservation Loan Program - Energy Resource Conservation - High Energy Cost Grants - Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) Program |
| Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) - Water Technical Assistance | Link partners with national laboratory expertise, software tools, and collaborative learning networks through the Better Buildings Challenge Water Savings Network. This initiative aims to enhance water conservation efforts among participating organizations by providing them with valuable resources and knowledge sharing opportunities. | Commercial, public, industrial, and multifamily sectors | Technical assistance | Water Savings Network | Better Buildings Initiative (energy.gov) | |
| Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) - Better Plants | Helps industrial organizations set and meet ambitious energy, water, waste, and carbon emission reduction targets. | Industrial organizations,manufacturing facilities in U.S. state and territory | Technical assistance | Better Plants | Department of Energy | |
| Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) - Energy Management Programs | Help achieve energy and cost savings through a set of quantitative tools that track energy use, inform decision making, and help implement energy saving practices. | Municipal governments, county governments, entities such as regional planning commissions or councils of governments, other public entities involved in local or regional solar energy initiatives | Technical assistance | Energy Management Programs | Department of Energy | |
| Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) - Solar Energy Innovation Network (SEIN) | Program dedicated to aiding communities in the creation of innovative strategies for solar energy adoption. Also, provides specialized analytical support especially for early adopters to assist other communities and organizations in adopting and implementing the insights generated by the Innovation Network. | State and local governments, community-based organizations, electric utilities, companies, nonprofits, and universities | Technical assistance | Solar Energy Innovation Network | Department of Energy | Program seeks to lower barriers to equitable solar energy adoption and increase the resiliency of the nation’s electric grid |
| Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) - National Community Solar Partnership+ (NCSP+) | Help establish objectives and address ongoing challenges, particularly in extending community solar access to underserved communities. | NCSP+ member | Technical assistance | Technical Assistance | Department of Energy | Areas for TA: - Policy, legislation, and regulation research - Project financing analysis - Outreach and engagement strategies - Program design - Technical issues |
| Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) - Solar Technical Assistance | Help overcome obstacles and enhance access to solar energy. | Nonprofits, for-profit entities, state and local governments | Technical assistance | Solar Technical Assistance | Department of Energy | |
| Office of Electricity - Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership (C-MAP) | Program supports design or deploy a microgrid that aligns with community-defined priorities to improve or to optimize existing microgrid technology | Communities, or groups of communities, that are either developing or have developed microgrid energy systems | Technical assistance | Community Microgrid Assistance Partnership | Department of Energy | |
| Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) - Grid Modernization Initiative Technical Assistance for State Utility Regulators | This assistance is aimed at enhancing grid reliability and resilience, facilitating the integration of new technologies, advancing energy and environmental equity, and formulating strategies to reduce carbon emissions in their electric grids. | State utility regulators | Technical assistance | DOE Announces Technical Assistance for State Utility Regulators to Address Challenges Related to a Transforming Electric Grid | Department of Energy | Public utility commissions receive technical support from national laboratories to assist state regulators in making informed decisions and fostering innovative solutions. |
| Office of Clean Energy Demonstration (OCED) - Long-Duration Energy Storage Demonstrations (LDES) | Accelerate the development, demonstration, and deployment of long-duration energy storage technologies. These technologies are critical for improving grid reliability, enabling greater integration of renewable energy sources, and enhancing the overall resilience and flexibility of the power grid. The program aims to support innovations that can store energy for extended periods, ranging from several hours to days or even weeks, thereby addressing key challenges associated with renewable energy variability and peak demand management | Private sector companies, academic institutions, national laboratories, non-profit organizations, state and local governments, and other entities involved in the development and demonstration of energy storage technologies | Grants, cooperative agreements, and other financial assistance mechanisms | Long-Duration Energy Storage Demonstrations | Department of Energy | Funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law |
| Loan Programs Office (LPO): Transmission Loans - Innovative energy and Innovative Supply Chain | Financing projects that deploy innovative clean energy technologies at commercial scale (Innovative energy) or employ innovative manufacturing processes or manufacture innovative technologies at commercial scale. | Renewable energy systems, energy storage projects, efficient end-use energy technologies, etc | Loan | INNOVATIVE ENERGY AND INNOVATIVE SUPPLY CHAIN | Department of Energy | |
| Loan Programs Office (LPO): Transmission Loans - Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment | Retool, repower, repurpose, or replace energy infrastructure (including transmission) that has ceased operations. | Transmission developers/industry, grid industry, etc. | Loan | ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE REINVESTMENT | Department of Energy | |
| DOE Grid Deployment Office - Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program - Smart Grid Grant | Increase flexibility, efficiency, and reliability of the electric power system. E.g., Increasing capacity of transmission system, preventing faults, integration of renewable energy at transmission and distribution levels, facilitating the integration of increasing electrified vehicles, buildings, and other grid-edge devices. | - Institutions of higher education - Tribal nations - Other entities (For-profit, Non-Profit, State and Local governments) | Grant | Smart Grid Grants | Department of Energy | |
| DOE Grid Deployment Office - Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships Program - Grid Resilience Utility and Industry Grant | -Â Support the modernization of electric grid to reduce impacts due to extreme weather and natural disasters. - Includes a small utility set aside for those entities selling no more than 4 million MWh of electricity per year. | - Electric grid operators - Electricity storage operators - Electricity generators - Transmission owners or operators - Distribution providers - Fuel suppliers | Grant with 100% cost match | Grid Resilience Utility and Industry Grants | Department of Energy | |
| DOE Grid Deployment Office - Grid Resilience State/Tribal Formula Grant Program | For facility financing, i.e., designed to strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against wildfires, extreme weather, and other natural disasters that are exacerbated by the climate crisis. | - Only non-federal borrowers - State and Indian tribes provide 15% match on Federal allocation. If state or Indian tribe issue subawards for resilience projects, the entities receiving funds must provide 100% match (or 1/3 match for “small utilities) | Grant | Grid Resilience State/Tribal Formula Grant Program | Department of Energy | |
| ARPA-E OPEN Programs | For high-impact energy research projects that can make significant advancements with relatively modest investments within a set timeframe. It covers a wide spectrum of energy-related technologies and concepts. | Electric utilities, service providers, original equipment manufacturers, universities, laboratories, and other entities engaged in in specific energy-related technology research | Direct funding | OPEN Programs | arpa-e.energy.gov | |
| Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy - Renewable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning (R-STEPâ„¢) | Enhance capacity of state and local governments to effectively plan, site and permit large-scale renewable energy and energy storage projects. It aims to create a streamlined, community-oriented, and science-based siting process by providing technical assistance, fostering community engagement, and developing state-specific tools and resources. | U.S. state and local governments | Grant | Renewable Energy Siting through Technical Engagement and Planning (R-STEPâ„¢) | Department of Energy |
Engaging community in modernization planning
Community engagement is a crucial aspect of the planning process for grid infrastructure modernization. Utilities must involve the communities they serve in the decision-making process to build trust, foster transparency and ensure that the modernization efforts align with the needs and values of the community. Click below to explore community engagement resources.Â
Community Engagement
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