Assistance to High Energy Cost Communities | RD RUS HECG19

Opportunity Information: Apply for RD RUS HECG19

The Assistance to High Energy Cost Communities program is a competitive grant opportunity run by the USDA Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to help places where residents pay unusually high amounts for home energy. The agency made up to $10 million available in total funding under this round (Funding Opportunity Number: RD RUS HECG19; CFDA 10.859), with an expected 10 awards and a maximum award size (ceiling) of $3,000,000 per grant. The program is designed for community-level energy solutions in areas where the average annual residential home energy expenditure is more than 275 percent of the national average, which is the key threshold used to define "extremely high energy costs" for eligibility.

Grant funds can be used for capital-type projects that directly improve energy service for an eligible community. Specifically, the program supports acquiring, constructing, or improving energy generation, transmission, or distribution facilities that serve the community. It also explicitly allows both on-grid and off-grid renewable energy projects, which can include systems intended to reduce reliance on expensive fuels or improve local energy resilience where traditional grid service is limited or costly. In addition to infrastructure, the program supports energy efficiency and energy conservation projects, recognizing that reducing demand and waste can lower household energy burdens and stabilize community energy costs over time.

A central guardrail in the program is that projects must be oriented toward broad community benefit rather than serving as a subsidy for one customer. Proposals cannot be primarily for the benefit of a single household or a single business, so applicants generally need to demonstrate that the proposed facilities or improvements provide energy services to a wider community, multiple customers, or a public-serving system. Another major limitation is that funds are not meant to cover routine or administrative expenses: grant dollars cannot be used to prepare the grant application, cannot be used for operating costs, and cannot be used to buy equipment, structures, or real estate unless those purchases are directly tied to delivering community energy services. In practice, this steers budgets toward tangible project costs that clearly connect to generation, delivery, efficiency upgrades, or conservation measures that reduce community energy costs.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of entities that might be positioned to develop or sponsor community energy projects. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city/township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments and certain tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations (including entities other than small businesses as well as small businesses); individuals; and other applicants as described in the opportunity’s additional eligibility information. The wide eligibility list reflects the reality that high energy cost problems often involve utilities, local governments, tribal entities, housing providers, and community organizations, any of which may be able to lead an infrastructure or efficiency project depending on local conditions.

Administratively, this was a discretionary grant opportunity (Funding Instrument Type: Grant) under activity categories that include Energy, Community Development, and Business and Commerce. The opportunity was created on April 26, 2019, and originally closed on June 24, 2019.

• The Department of Agriculture, Utilities Programs in the business and commerce, community development, energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Assistance to High Energy Cost Communities" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.859.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 26, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 24, 2019. (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 $3,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for RD RUS HECG19

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: