BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW (BIL): REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) PREPARING WORKERS AND BUSINESSES TO DELIVER ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND BUILDING ELECTRIFICATION MEASURES | DE FOA 0002885

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0002885

This opportunity is not a traditional grant application. It is a Request for Information (RFI) issued by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), specifically the Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), to gather practical feedback from the public that will shape how DOE designs future Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs). The focus is on building the workforce and business capacity needed to deliver energy efficiency upgrades and building electrification measures at scale, using authorities and funding directions established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and, in part, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). In other words, DOE is asking stakeholders to help it design the rules, priorities, and structure of upcoming competitive funding programs before those programs are formally announced.

The RFI is centered on three connected program areas. First is BIL section 40503, the Energy Auditor Training Grant Program (often referred to as EAT), which is expected to support training pathways for energy auditors who can assess buildings, identify cost-effective efficiency improvements, and help guide retrofit work. Second is BIL section 40513, the Career Skills Training program (CST), which is aimed more broadly at developing workforce skills tied to energy efficiency and electrification work, potentially including hands-on technical training and career pathway development. Third is IRA section 50123, the State-Based Home Energy Efficiency Contractor Training program (referred to in the RFI as the Contractor Training Program), which is designed to strengthen contractor capacity so that residential efficiency upgrades and electrification projects can be delivered with consistent quality, safety, and consumer confidence. DOE is using this RFI to understand how these programs should be structured in real-world conditions, including what requirements and design choices will make them effective and accessible.

DOE is explicitly seeking input on proposed programmatic requirements and content for these programs, meaning respondents can weigh in on what activities should be eligible, what outcomes should be required, how training quality should be measured, and how DOE should structure grant components or performance expectations in later FOAs. The RFI also asks who is responding (respondent type) and requests information about workforce and business characteristics, which signals DOE is trying to understand the practical makeup of the labor pipeline and contractor ecosystem that would participate in these initiatives. Beyond that, DOE is looking for workforce development and business-owner training strategies that actually work on the ground, such as approaches to recruiting and retaining trainees, aligning curricula with industry needs, supporting wraparound services, offering apprenticeships or work-based learning, and helping small businesses adopt new technologies and practices tied to electrification and high-performance building work.

A major theme of the RFI is implementation practicality, including how organizations access federal funding. That includes barriers potential applicants face when applying for and managing federal awards, and what DOE could do in the FOA design to reduce friction while still ensuring accountability. Another prominent theme is equity and partnerships. DOE is signaling that it wants feedback on how to structure these programs to expand access for underserved communities and underrepresented workers and business owners, and how partnerships (for example, among training providers, unions, community-based organizations, employers, utilities, and state and local governments) can be encouraged or required to improve outcomes. DOE also calls out access to high quality jobs, which generally points to questions about job quality standards, career advancement, wages and benefits, credentials that translate into employment, and training models that lead to durable employment rather than short-term placement.

Importantly, DOE states that the information collected is for internal planning and will be used to develop one or more future FOAs related to BIL sections 40503 and 40513 and IRA section 50123. DOE also emphasizes that responses will not be published, and that it may or may not ultimately issue FOAs based on what it learns. This is strictly an information-gathering step: DOE will not pay respondents for submissions, and no projects will be funded as a direct result of responding. The listing’s “eligible applicants” field is essentially unrestricted (open to any entity type, subject to details in the RFI), which is typical for an RFI because the goal is to collect broad market and stakeholder input rather than to limit participation to a narrow category.

Key administrative details include the opportunity identifier DE-FOA-0002885, issued under DOE (Golden Field Office is listed on the notice), with activity categories tied to employment, labor and training, and energy (CFDA 81.041). Responses were required to be submitted by email as attachments to eeworkforceprograms@hq.doe.gov, with “Workforce RFI Response” in the subject line, no later than 5:00 PM Eastern Time on January 26, 2023. The full text and instructions were hosted on EERE Exchange (https://eere-exchange.energy.gov), which is DOE’s platform for EERE-related funding materials and exchanges.

In practical terms, organizations that would have been well positioned to respond include training providers, community colleges, labor-management partnerships, unions and apprenticeship programs, workforce boards, state energy offices, community-based organizations, contractors and trade associations, energy service companies, utilities, and employers involved in residential and commercial building upgrades. The value of responding to an RFI like this is strategic: it is a chance to influence how future grant competitions are written, including definitions, eligible activities, reporting requirements, partnership expectations, equity approaches, and what DOE considers “success” for workforce and contractor training outcomes in the energy efficiency and building electrification space.

• The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the employment, labor and training, energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE LAW (BIL): REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) PREPARING WORKERS AND BUSINESSES TO DELIVER ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND BUILDING ELECTRIFICATION MEASURES" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.041.
• This funding opportunity was created on Dec 15, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 26, 2023 Responses to this RFI must be submitted electronically to eeworkforceprograms@hq.doe.gov no later than 500pm (ET). (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 $2.00 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.

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