REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005 SECTION 243 AND 247 HYDROPOWER INCENTIVE PROGRAMS | DE FOA 0002762

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002762

This opportunity is a Request for Information (RFI), not a funding solicitation, issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through its Grid Deployment Office (GDO). The purpose is to gather input from stakeholders to help DOE design and implement hydroelectric incentive programs authorized under Sections 243 and 247 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005), as amended by Sections 40332 and 40333 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The underlying statutory references are 42 U.S.C. 15882 and 42 U.S.C. 15883. In practical terms, DOE is asking the hydropower community and other interested parties to provide feedback on program structure, priorities, and other design considerations before DOE finalizes how these incentives will work.

Because it is an RFI, the government is not asking for project proposals, budgets, or applications for financial assistance at this stage. Instead, DOE is collecting perspectives, data, and recommendations that can inform later program decisions. These kinds of RFIs are commonly used to surface real-world constraints, identify what eligibility rules would be workable, anticipate administrative burdens, understand how to measure outcomes, and ensure the eventual incentive programs align with market conditions and policy goals. The notice is explicitly clear that no financial incentives or awards are being made through this announcement.

The RFI is broadly open in terms of who may respond. Eligibility is listed as “Unrestricted,” meaning any type of organization or entity can submit input, subject to any clarifications in the full text. This generally includes hydropower owners and operators, utilities, developers, equipment manufacturers, engineering firms, environmental and community organizations, grid operators, state and local agencies, tribes, academics, and individual experts. The listing shows the agency as the Department of Energy (Golden Field Office) and categorizes the activity under “Energy” with CFDA number 81.087, which is a common DOE assistance listing category even when the specific action here is only information gathering.

Submissions had to be made electronically by email, with a firm deadline of 11:59 PM Eastern Time on September 6, 2022. Responses were required to be sent to WPTORFI@ee.doe.gov with the subject line formatted as “Organization/Name Response to RFI on Hydroelectric Incentive Programs.” DOE required responses to be attached to the email (rather than written in the email body) and limited the submission format to Microsoft Word (.docx) or Adobe PDF (.pdf). The response length was capped at 15 pages using 12-point font and 1-inch margins, which signals DOE wanted substantive but focused feedback that could be reviewed and compared across many respondents. For attachments larger than 25MB, DOE recommended compressing the files (zipping) to reduce delivery issues. Only electronic submissions were accepted.

From an administrative perspective, the opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number DE-FOA-0002762 and was posted on the EERE Exchange website (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov), which is DOE’s standard platform for many energy-related announcements. The entry includes fields like “Award Ceiling: 2” and “Expected Awards: 0,” but those fields are essentially artifacts of the funding-opportunity template and do not indicate actual awards here, since the announcement is strictly an RFI and not a grant or incentive competition.

Overall, the key takeaway is that DOE used this RFI to collect stakeholder feedback to shape forthcoming hydropower incentive programs under EPAct 2005 as updated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Anyone interested in influencing how those incentives are structured, who can provide technical, financial, regulatory, environmental, or implementation insight, would have used this RFI process to get their recommendations into the record before DOE moved to a later stage such as formal guidance or a future funding/incentive announcement.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI): ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005 SECTION 243 AND 247 HYDROPOWER INCENTIVE PROGRAMS" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.087.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 30, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 06, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0002762

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