Miles SmithThe Department of Energy is making up to $400 million available to help rural and remote communities with projects to make clean energy solutions available to their residents.
The department’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is inviting communities with populations under 10,000 to apply for the grants, which can be used to support projects that range from upgrading transmission and distribution lines to developing microgrids.
OCED said it intended to fund between 20 and 50 projects with award sizes between $2 million and $50 million. A 5% to 50% match will be required for all projects.
Applicants must submit concept papers by Feb. 27, 2025 and the deadline for full applications is Aug. 28, 2025. Awards will be announced in spring 2026, OCED said.
Project ideas must address one of the following:
- 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
- Increasing energy efficiency
Entities eligible to apply include tribes and tribal organizations, state and local governmental entities, non-profit and for-profit entities, rural electric cooperatives, farming associations and cooperatives, labor unions, institutions of higher education and both incorporated and unincorporated consortia.
For more details on this funding opportunity, click here.
Photo by Gary Meulemans on Unsplash
