Description
The Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) is requesting proposals for its Energizing Insular Communities (EIC) Program, which aims to promote domestically produced energy and protect the United States' economic and national security interests. The program provides grant funding for energy strategies that reduce reliance on imported foreign fuels, reduce the cost of electricity, and improve the performance of energy infrastructure and overall energy efficiency and reliability in the territories. Eligible applicants are local government entities, utilities, semi-autonomous agencies, and institutions of higher education located in the U.S. territories of Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Some key aspects of the program include:
• Support for local priorities to reduce the cost and improve the reliability of electricity to consumers
• Improvement of the performance of energy infrastructure and overall energy efficiency and reliability in the territories
• Alignment with the Administration's Energy Dominance policies
• Preference for proposals that utilize domestically produced components and materials
• Eligibility for funding for energy supply and energy efficiency projects, including energy storage and transmission and transportation projects
• Ineligibility for funding for solar, wind, and pilot projects
The proposal should include a detailed project description, a statement of need, project goals and objectives, and a budget narrative. The application must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov or GrantSolutions.gov.
Some examples of projects that were awarded in previous years include:
• Integrated resource planning
• Energy efficiency improvements
• Net metering policies
• Debit meters
• Backup battery systems
• Micro-grids
• Grid stability and integration studies