Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002912 for Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Section 40551: Weatherization Assistance Program Enhancement & Innovation | DE FOA 0002911

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002911

This Notice of Intent (NOI) signals that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), through the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP) and on behalf of the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), plans to release a competitive funding opportunity called "BIL WAP Enhancement and Innovation" tied to Section 40551 of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law). The planned Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is described as a $25 million effort meant to test, scale, and spread practical improvements to how weatherization is delivered, especially for low-income households. Because this is only an NOI, the details are not final: DOE is essentially giving potential applicants an early heads-up that a formal FOA may be coming, and that the final structure, requirements, and even the decision to issue the FOA at all could change.

The purpose of the planned program is rooted in Congressional direction (referenced in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021) to run a competitive "Enhancement and Innovation" initiative for WAP with five core aims. First, it focuses on increasing the number of homes occupied by low-income residents that actually receive weatherization services, especially by helping address barriers that prevent a unit from being "weatherization-ready" in the first place. In practice, many homes that qualify for WAP cannot move forward because of pre-existing issues (often health, safety, or structural concerns), so this objective is aimed at expanding access by solving those readiness challenges.

Second, the program is intended to promote renewable energy deployment in low-income dwelling units. While WAP traditionally centers on energy efficiency measures (like insulation, air sealing, and HVAC improvements), this objective points to pairing efficiency with renewable options where feasible, helping households benefit from lower energy burdens and improved resilience. The specific technologies, cost caps, or integration rules would normally be spelled out in the FOA, but the intent is clear: increase renewable adoption in the low-income housing context in a way that aligns with WAP delivery systems.

Third, DOE emphasizes healthier indoor environments by enhancing or expanding health and safety measures and resources in homes occupied by low-income people. This reflects the reality that weatherization work intersects with indoor air quality and occupant health. Expanding health and safety measures can include addressing ventilation, combustion safety, moisture and mold risks, and other hazards that might otherwise delay or prevent energy upgrades. This objective is not just about enabling projects to proceed; it is also about making sure homes are safer and healthier after improvements are installed.

Fourth, the program is designed to disseminate new methods and best practices among the organizations that provide weatherization services. A major challenge in large national programs is that innovation often stays local unless there is a deliberate pathway for sharing, replication, and training. DOE is signaling that it wants projects that do not just solve a problem in one place, but also produce approaches, toolkits, procedures, training materials, or evaluation findings that other weatherization providers can adopt.

Fifth, the initiative is meant to support hiring and retention, specifically encouraging weatherization providers to build a workforce that includes people from the communities being served and people from groups historically underrepresented in the home energy performance workforce. The NOI explicitly lists examples of underrepresented communities and groups, including religious and ethnic minorities, women, veterans, individuals with disabilities, and people who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. This workforce component is framed as both a capacity strategy (weatherization programs need skilled labor to scale) and an equity strategy (ensuring the jobs created and sustained by these investments are accessible to the communities most affected by energy burden).

DOE indicates that the upcoming FOA may be organized into three topic areas, which gives a rough preview of how applicants might align their proposals. Topic Area 1 is expected to focus on multifamily housing, which often has unique building systems, ownership structures, and coordination challenges compared to single-family homes. Topic Area 2 is expected to cover single-family and manufactured housing, a large segment of the WAP service population with its own technical and programmatic needs, particularly for manufactured homes that can require specialized measures and standards. Topic Area 3 is expected to focus on workforce development, aligning directly with the hiring, training, and retention goals described in the fifth purpose.

On basic administrative details, the listing identifies DOE (Golden Field Office) as the agency, categorizes the opportunity as discretionary, and associates it with the energy assistance CFDA number 81.042 (Weatherization Assistance Program). The eligibility field is described as "unrestricted" in the sense that it is open to any type of entity, but it also notes that final eligibility may be clarified or narrowed in the official FOA text. The posting includes dates (created May 22, 2023, with an original closing date listed as August 18, 2023), but since this is a notice about an intended FOA, those dates should be treated cautiously and verified against the final posted announcement.

Overall, the NOI communicates DOE's near-term intent to invest in practical innovations that remove barriers to serving more low-income homes, integrate renewable energy where appropriate, strengthen health and safety outcomes, spread replicable best practices across the WAP network, and build a more robust and inclusive weatherization workforce. The most important takeaway for potential applicants is that this is advance notice only: DOE expects to release a formal FOA later, at which point requirements, funding levels, topic definitions, evaluation criteria, and application instructions would become concrete, and DOE would provide a formal channel for applicant questions.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Notice of Intent to Issue Funding Opportunity Announcement No. DE-FOA-0002912 for Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Section 40551: Weatherization Assistance Program Enhancement & Innovation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.042.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 22, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 18, 2023. (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 $1.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0002911

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