Notice of Intent to issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002978 entitled Tribal College and University (TC&U) - 2023 | DE FOA 0002977

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002977

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through its Office of Indian Energy and the Golden Field Office, issued a Notice of Intent (NOI) under number DE-FOA-0002977 to signal that it planned to release a related Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), DE-FOA-0002978, titled "Transitioning Tribal Colleges and Universities to Clean Energy - 2023." This notice is essentially an early heads-up for interested parties, not an application solicitation. DOE emphasized that the details in the NOI could change, that the agency would not answer questions about the NOI itself, and that a formal Q&A process would only be available after the FOA is officially released. The NOI also makes clear that DOE could ultimately issue a different FOA than described, or potentially not issue the FOA at all.

The planned FOA is intended specifically for Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) and would support efforts to move TCUs toward clean energy through two funding tracks, described as Areas of Interest. Area of Interest 1 focuses on clean energy project planning, which generally means early-stage work needed to define, assess, and prepare a viable project (for example, planning activities that position a project to be built or implemented later). Area of Interest 2 focuses on clean energy technology deployment, meaning the actual installation or implementation of clean energy technologies. While the NOI does not list specific technologies or required project types, the overall purpose is to help TCUs take concrete steps toward clean energy through either planning work or real-world deployment.

Eligibility is tied to federal definitions of Tribal Colleges and Universities. For this planned FOA, TCUs are those institutions of higher education that are formally controlled by, formally sanctioned by, or chartered by the governing body of an Indian tribe or tribes, with the limitation that no more than one such institution is recognized per tribe. The notice points to the Tribally Controlled Community College Assistance Act of 1978 and the Higher Education Act of 1965 as the key authorities, and it explicitly includes institutions referenced in the Equity in Educational Land-Grant Status Act of 1994 as well as Diné College as authorized under the Navajo Community College Assistance Act. In other words, the opportunity is meant to reach the set of institutions that qualify under these established federal TCU frameworks.

DOE indicated it expected to make multiple awards as financial assistance grants. The anticipated period of performance for each award is roughly two to four years. For Area of Interest 2 (deployment), the NOI also notes a mandatory 12-month verification period, which suggests that awardees would need to document and confirm performance or outcomes after installation, beyond just completing construction or procurement. The planned funding ranges depend on which Area of Interest an applicant pursues: planning awards were expected to be in the range of $100,000 to $250,000, while deployment awards were expected to be much larger, in the range of $1,000,000 to $3,000,000. The NOI’s source data also associates the opportunity with CFDA number 81.087 and categorizes it under the energy funding activity area.

In terms of timing and process, DOE stated it planned to issue the FOA in spring 2023. The notice included a date shown as an "OriginalClosingDate" of 2023-03-16, but since this document is an NOI and not the FOA itself, that date should be understood as part of the listing metadata rather than an application deadline for this notice. Most importantly, DOE stressed that applications would not be accepted through the NOI. Once the FOA is released, applications would be submitted only through DOE’s IE-Exchange portal (https://ie-exchange.energy.gov), not by email or other submission methods. Applicants wanting updates were directed to subscribe to the Office of Indian Energy email newsletter via https://energy.gov/indianenergy, and prospective applicants were advised to review the attached NOI details for required registrations that typically must be completed before applying through DOE systems.

• The Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent to issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002978 entitled Tribal College and University (TC&U) - 2023" 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 2023-02-28.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-03-16. (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.

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