Department of Energy
Golden Field Office
15013 Denver West Parkway
Golden, Colorado 80401
July 12, 2023
Eric Shum, P.E.
Electric Utility Engineer
City of Santa Clara
1500 Warburton Avenue
Santa Clara, CA 95050
Dear Eric Shum, P.E.:
SUBJECT: FY23 Congressionally Directed Spending project entitled, “City of Santa Clara - Fire Station Microgrid Project”, Pending Award No. DE-EE0010775
Thank you for submitting a summary description of your pending agreement for your FY2023 Congressionally Directed Spending project. Upon review of your summary, DOE has determined the minimum non-federal cost sharing percentage for your project is 50%. Therefore, your application should reflect a DOE funding amount of $500,000, and your non-federal cost share amount of $500,000 for a total project amount of $1,000,000. As noted previously, the required cost share percentage is a minimum. You may choose to provide additional cost share resulting in a higher total project amount. Cost sharing is required of non-federal recipients of funding under Section 988 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
You are now required to submit a complete application package. As mentioned in our previous letter, the forms are available on the EERE Funding Opportunities Forms page under Pre-Award:
https://energy.gov/eere/funding/eere-funding-application-and-management-forms.
Please submit your application package to [email protected] within 30 calendar days of receipt of this letter. It is important to include the pending award number referenced in the above ‘Subject’ line on all forms/submissions. A complete application package must include the following forms and information:
1. Pre-Award Information Sheet and all required attachments, including but not limited to: Current and Pending Support, Participants and Collaborating Organizations, and any other required disclosures, waivers, attachments or supporting documentation REMINDER: Complete the Pre-Award Information Sheet first and promptly email it under separate cover to [email protected]
2. SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance
3. Certification and Assurances for use with the SF-424
4. Detailed Budget Justification
5. Copy of your approved Indirect Rate Agreement or a Rate Proposal supporting your proposed indirect costs in the Detailed Budget Justification
6. SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities
7. Environmental Questionnaire, EQ1 (This form should be completed online at EERE: Project Management Center (energy.gov)
8. Statement of Project Objectives (SOPO)
9. Commitment Letters from Third Parties Contributing to Cost Share
10. Subrecipient/Subcontractor Information: for each subrecipient/subcontractor who is expected to perform work estimated to be more than $250,000 or 25% of total award costs, provide: (1) separate detailed budget justification; and (2) description of work
11. Copy of the most recent independent Single Audit (for non-profits, states, local governments, and educational institutions) or independent Compliance Audit (applicable to for-profit entities)
City of Santa Clara DE-EE0010775 July 12, 2023
2 12. A short statement on whether the work will involve construction, alteration, maintenance or repair of publicly-owned infrastructure. Infrastructure includes but is not limited to: buildings and real property; dams, ports, harbors, and other maritime facilities; electrical transmission facilities and systems; utilities; and structures that generate, transport, and distribute energy (such as EV charging stations)
As a reminder, in addition to providing a complete application package, your organization must also register in the following systems:
1)
System for Award Management (SAM). All non-federal entities are required to register in SAM in order to do business with the federal government. To register in SAM, follow the process described at: https://www.sam.gov. Registrants must continue to maintain an active SAM registration with current information at all times during which it has an active federal award or applicant under consideration by a federal awarding agency. As part of the registration process, SAM will generate a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number. The UEI must be included in block 8.c. of the SF-424 Application for Federal Assistance. A UEI is required for all applicants.
NOTE: Due to the high demand of UEI requests and SAM registrations, entity legal business name and address validations are taking longer than expected to process. Entities should start the process as soon as possible. If entities have technical difficulties with the UEI validation or SAM registration process, they should utilize the HELP feature on SAM.gov. SAM.gov will work entity service tickets in the order in which they are received and asks that entities not create multiple service tickets for the same request or technical issue. Additional entity validation resources can be found here: GSAFSD Tier 0 Knowledge Base - Validating your Entity.
2) FedConnect. DOE will send your award documents electronically through FedConnect. Your organization will also acknowledge award documents through FedConnect. To register, go to:
https://www.fedconnect.net. To create an organization account, your organization’s SAM MPIN is required. It is imperative that you register as soon as possible. More information is available at https://www.fedconnect.net/FedConnect/Marketing/Documents/FedConnect_Ready_Set_Go.pdf.
Questions pertaining to registration for FedConnect should be directed to https://fcsupport.unisonglobal.com/support/home.
The Financial Assistance Regulations, found at 2 CFR 200 and 2 CFR 910 will assist you in understanding your requirements as an award recipient (See 2 CFR 200 – Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards; and 2 CFR 910 – Department of Energy Addendum to 2 CFR 200).
After submission of a complete application and DOE review, your award will be processed as quickly as possible. The target completion date for completing award negotiations will be 120 calendar days after receipt of a complete application. Failure to comply with the application submittal dates and instructions may result in substantial delays in processing your award.
You may not incur pre-award costs without prior approval of DOE. All pre-award costs are incurred at your risk. DOE is under no obligation to reimburse such costs if for any reason you do not receive an award or if the award is less than anticipated and inadequate to cover such costs. All costs must be allowable, allocable, and reasonable for the awarded scope of work in accordance with 2 CFR 200 Subpart E or 48 CFR 31.2, as applicable. The earliest date pre-award costs will be considered for approval is December 29, 2022, the date the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023, was enacted.
City of Santa Clara DE-EE0010775 July 12, 2023
3 Please note, DOE’s decision on whether and how to distribute federal funds is subject to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and DOE must conduct a NEPA review for all proposed project activities prior to authorizing the use of federal funds. Based on information available, DOE has not issued a final NEPA determination for this project. You should carefully consider and should seek legal counsel or other expert advice before taking any action related to the proposed project that would have an adverse effect on the environment or limit the choice of reasonable alternatives prior to DOE completing the NEPA review process.
DOE does not guarantee or assume any obligation to reimburse costs where the costs were incurred prior to receiving written authorization from the Contracting Officer. If you elect to undertake activities that may have an adverse effect on the environment or limit the choice of reasonable alternatives prior to receiving such written authorization from the Contracting Officer, you are doing so at risk of not receiving federal funding and such costs may not be recognized as allowable cost share. Nothing contained in the pre-award cost reimbursement regulations or any pre-award costs approval letter from the Contracting Officer override the NEPA requirements to obtain the written authorization from the Contracting Officer prior to taking any action that may have an adverse effect on the environment or limit the choice of reasonable alternatives.
If your organization does not have prior experience performing on federal government awards, a representative from the DOE Compliance Office may be in contact to discuss the requirements of an adequate accounting system. It is important to maintain proper time keeping records and accounting practices. Failure to do so may lead to costs being considered unallowable. Your organization must have an adequate accounting system in place prior to expenditure of any award funds. For more information on the negotiation process and relevant regulations, please review the “Recipient’s Guide to Negotiating with EERE,” available on the EERE Financial Opportunities Resources page at https://energy.gov/eere/funding/eere-funding- application-and-management-forms.
This letter should not be construed as a commitment on the part of DOE to either make an award or to make an award for a particular amount, notwithstanding the amount expected based on the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2023.
Thank you again for your interest in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy programs.
Administrative questions regarding your pending award, the application process or forms should be directed to Traci Perry, Grants Management Specialist; Technical questions should be directed to Thomas Rueckert, Technical Project Officer.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Carabajal
Director, Financial Assistance Office
Golden Field Office
cc:
Traci Perry, Grants Management Specialist
Stephanie Hodge, Contracting Officer
Sara Evans, Grants Specialist (Contractor)
Thomas Rueckert, Technical Project Officer
Andrew Montaño, NEPA Division Director