February 2, 2023
SENT VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL
City of Riverside, Riverside Public Utilities
Daniel Honeyfield
[email protected]
SUBJECT: Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) no. DE-FOA-0002740, titled “BIL – Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP)” – Concept Paper review results.
Concept Paper Identification Code: TA2-144-E
Dear Daniel Honeyfield:
Thank you for submitting a Concept Paper in response to the subject FOA. The Concept Paper for proposed project titled "Riverside Public Utilities Advanced Meter Program - Full Deployment“ was carefully reviewed in accordance with the evaluation criteria in the FOA.
Based on the results of the Concept Paper review, you (your organization) are (is) hereby encouraged to submit a full application in accordance with the instructions and requirements contained within the FOA by the due date/time specified on the FOA cover page. Please be advised that receiving a letter of encouragement does not guarantee that an application will be selected for negotiations leading to award.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has identified potential area(s) for improvement based on the concept paper merit review criteria identified in the FOA (see below). DOE will not provide any additional feedback or guidance beyond what is provided below.
X The Concept Paper did not propose or thoroughly describe how the proposed work, if successfully accomplished, would clearly meet the objectives as stated in the FOA for the specific topic area.
X The Concept Paper does not clearly describe how the proposed work aligns with and supports State, local, Tribal, regional resilience, decarbonization, or other energy strategies and plans.
X The Concept Paper does not adequately identify risks and challenges, including possible mitigation strategies, and/or has not adequately shown the impact that the DOE funding and the proposed project would have on the relevant field and application.
X The Concept Paper does not adequately identify strategies to ensure meaningful community and labor engagement; quality jobs and workforce development; energy and environmental justice and the Justice40 Initiative; and diversity, inclusion, accessibility— including methods to ensure accountability.
The proposed project team does not appear to have adequate qualifications, experience, capabilities, and other resources necessary to complete the proposed project.
City of Riverside, Riverside Public Utilities Page 2 of 2
If your organization chooses to submit a full application, please include the concept paper identification code identified above in your full application, preferably in the file name and on the cover page of the technical volume. The code is specific to this concept paper submission.
Please also ensure you have carefully read the Registrations Requirements located in the FOA document.
There are several one-time actions that must be completed before submitting an application in response to this FOA (e.g., register with the System for Award Management (SAM), obtain a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number, register with Grants.gov, and register with FedConnect.net to submit questions). It is vital that applicants address these items as soon as possible. Some may take several weeks, and failure to complete them could interfere with an applicant’s ability to apply to this FOA.
The DOE will conduct a webinar on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST. To register for the webinar, please copy and paste the following link into your browser:
https://doe.webex.com/weblink/register/rfca95eb9eccfde52d05f0e59408aa2a0 . The purpose of the webinar is to discuss and emphasize FOA requirements within the FOA document that applicants may need to focus on in the full application. Attendance is not mandatory and will not positively or negatively impact the overall review of any applicant submissions. Questions will not be taken as part of this webinar.
The DOE did not make an applicant eligibility determination as part of the concept paper review.
Applicant eligibility determinations will be considered at the full application stage of the FOA process. To be considered for substantive evaluation, an applicant’s submission must meet the criteria set forth in Section III.A of the FOA (Eligible Applicants). If the full application does not meet the eligibility requirements, it will be considered ineligible and removed from further evaluation.
The DOE recognizes the significant effort your organization expended to prepare a concept paper in response to this FOA. On behalf of the DOE, the FOA team would like to express our appreciation for your interest in the Grid Deployment Office and this FOA.
Sincerely,
DE-FOA-0002740 Team
Email CC:
[email protected]