Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0003126
DE-FOA-0003126 is a discretionary grant funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of Energy, issued through the Grid Deployment Office (GDO) and administered by DOE's Golden Field Office. The goal is to strengthen and modernize U.S. wholesale electricity markets so they can better support a grid that is becoming more complex, with significant new generation resources, new types of loads, and tighter reliability expectations. DOE frames this work as essential to building a clean, reliable, resilient, and equitable electric system, emphasizing that wholesale markets are a core platform where electricity is bought and sold and where grid-connected resources are integrated and valued. The FOA is funded in whole or in part through the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Public Law 117-328), and is cataloged under CFDA 81.254.
At its core, the FOA is meant to pay for two closely related types of work: (1) analytical studies that tackle high-priority wholesale market challenges, and (2) stakeholder engagement and convenings that bring the right parties together to work through those challenges in a structured, credible way. The focus is not on building physical infrastructure, but on the market rules, coordination methods, planning frameworks, and institutional processes that influence how efficiently the grid operates and how reliably it can integrate new resources. DOE is looking for projects that can produce actionable insights, support real-world decision-making, and improve market outcomes by making them more efficient, fair, and transparent.
Eligibility is geared toward entities that can credibly work on market design and regional power system issues with the relevant authorities at the table. The FOA highlights States, Independent System Operators (ISOs), and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) as key applicants, and it also allows domestic entities to apply when they partner with or otherwise include States and/or ISOs/RTOs. While the listing shows eligibility as "unrestricted" in a general sense, the narrative makes clear that DOE expects proposals to be grounded in strong partnerships that connect technical analysis to actual market institutions and state oversight. In practical terms, competitive applications are likely to demonstrate meaningful participation from the market operators and/or state entities that can use the results.
DOE lays out five broad priority areas for the work it wants to support. The first is "seams between markets," which generally refers to the operational and financial friction that occurs at the boundaries between different wholesale markets or balancing authorities, such as inconsistent rules, barriers to power trading, inefficient scheduling, and misaligned transmission usage and settlement. The second priority is "regional resource adequacy," meaning how regions plan for and ensure enough capacity and dependable resources to meet demand under stressed conditions, especially as resource mixes change and extreme weather risks grow. The third is "market design and price formation," which covers the rules that determine prices and incentives in energy, capacity, and ancillary service markets and how those incentives affect reliability, investment signals, and the participation of new technologies. The fourth is "regional footprint studies," which typically examine whether the geographic scope of existing markets is optimal, whether expansion or consolidation would improve reliability and costs, and what governance, operational, and stakeholder impacts might follow. The fifth is "integrated regional planning approaches," aimed at improving how regions coordinate transmission planning, generation interconnection, reliability needs, and policy-driven resource development so that the system evolves in a cohesive way rather than through fragmented decisions.
The award structure indicates a maximum federal funding amount of up to $3,000,000 per award (award ceiling), with DOE anticipating approximately 14 awards. The opportunity is categorized under the energy funding activity area, and the funding instrument type is a grant. Key dates include a required concept paper due on November 3, 2023 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time, followed by a full application due on January 19, 2024 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. Applications are submitted through DOE's Infrastructure eXCHANGE portal (https://infrastructure-exchange.energy.gov/). FOA-specific questions are directed to GDOFOA3126@hq.doe.gov, and applicants who run into submission or platform problems are instructed to contact the eXCHANGE helpdesk at infrastructureexchangesupport@hq.doe.gov.
Overall, this FOA is designed for applicants positioned to influence or support wholesale market evolution through rigorous analysis and credible stakeholder processes. DOE is signaling that as the grid transitions, reliability and affordability will increasingly depend on market rules and regional coordination keeping pace with rapidly changing conditions. Projects that can clearly connect technical work to practical market improvements in one or more of the five priority areas, and that demonstrate strong partnerships with the institutions that run or oversee those markets, align with what DOE says it wants to fund under this announcement.Apply for DE FOA 0003126
- The Department of Energy, Golden Field Office in the energy sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DE-FOA-0003126 Grid Development Office (GDO) Wholesale Electricity Market Studies and Engagements Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.254.
- This funding opportunity was created on Sep 29, 2023.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 19, 2024. (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 14 candidate(s).
- 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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| Notice of Intent for IEDO Fiscal Year 2024 Cross-Sector Technologies FOA Apply for DE FOA 0003205 Funding Number: DE FOA 0003205 Agency: Department of Energy, Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| Addressing Risk and Uncertainty in the Future Power System Apply for DE FOA 0001493 Funding Number: DE FOA 0001493 Agency: National Energy Technology Laboratory Category: Energy Funding Amount: $360,000 |
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| Solicitation for Proposals for Funding From the Native American Business Development Institute (NABDI) Feasibility Study Program Apply for BIA 000 0004 NABDI Funding Number: BIA 000 0004 NABDI Agency: Bureau of Indian Affairs Category: Energy Funding Amount: $100,000 |
| Energy and Mineral Development Program Apply for BIA FA EMDP 0008 Funding Number: BIA FA EMDP 0008 Agency: Bureau of Indian Affairs Category: Energy Funding Amount: $2,500,000 |
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| Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) Program – IACs at Trade Schools, Community Colleges, and Union Training Programs; and Building Training and Assessment Centers (BTAC) Program Apply for DE FOA 0002940 Funding Number: DE FOA 0002940 Agency: Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: $9,000,000 |
| TRANSITIONING TRIBAL COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES TO CLEAN ENERGY - 2023 Apply for DE FOA 0002978 Funding Number: DE FOA 0002978 Agency: Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: $4,000,000 |
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| Request for Information (RFI) on USAID New Energy Activity in Central Asia Apply for 72011524RFI00001 Funding Number: 72011524RFI00001 Agency: Kazakhstan USAID-Almaty Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
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| Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Battery Materials Processing and Battery Manufacturing Apply for DE FOA 0003099 Funding Number: DE FOA 0003099 Agency: National Energy Technology Laboratory Category: Energy Funding Amount: $300,000,000 |
| Notice of Intent to Issue FOA - DE-FOA-0003219: FY24 Energy and Emissions Intensive Industries Apply for DE FOA 0003218 Funding Number: DE FOA 0003218 Agency: Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: Case Dependent |
| Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO) Fiscal Year 2024 Cross-Sector Technologies FOA Apply for DE FOA 0003206 Funding Number: DE FOA 0003206 Agency: Golden Field Office Category: Energy Funding Amount: $5,000,000 |
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