The State and Community Energy Program (SCEP) intends to issue Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “Renew America's Schools FOA”. This potential FOA supports the implementation of Section 40541 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which provides $500 million in grants for energy improvements through fiscal years 2022 - 2026 at public school facilities. DOE aims to facilitate substantial additional investment, prioritize schools with high needs, minimize administrative burden, and build enduring capacity in local educational agencies (LEAs) and the states to maximize impact equitably and efficiently.
DOE will encourage eligible applicants to consider projects that enable replicable and scalable impacts, create innovative, sustaining partnerships, leverage funding and economies of scale, target disadvantaged communities, improve student, teacher, and occupant health, enrich learning and growth, target schools that serve as community assets (e.g. neighborhood cooling centers or disaster recovery shelters), can be completed quickly, and are crafted thoughtfully within the context of public-school facilities (e.g. procurement restraints, construction windows, etc.). Project partners may include, but are not limited to, governmental entities such as states, local governments, and tribes; for-profit entities such as utilities and companies that provide energy services or manufacture energy systems; and non-governmental organizations such as community-based organizations, national associations, labor unions, workforce training providers, and energy-focused groups.
SCEP is compiling a “teaming” partner list to facilitate widespread participation in this initiative. This list allows organizations with expertise in the topic to express their interest to potential applicants and to explore potential partnerships. Please see the Teaming List section of the NOI document for more information.
This Notice is issued so that interested parties are aware of the SCEP’s intention to issue this FOA in the near term. All information contained in this Notice is subject to change. SCEP will not respond to questions concerning this Notice. Once the FOA has been released, SCEP will provide an avenue for potential Applicants to submit questions.