	Letter of Intent Due	Application Due	Award Date
Phase I	July 16, 2009	August 6, 2009 8:00 PM Eastern	October 2009
Phase II	October 23, 2009	November 4, 2009 8:00 PM Eastern	March 2010
Phase III	February 10, 2010	March 3, 2010 8:00 PM Eastern	June 2010

Please note: Applications for each Topic Area will be evaluated in all three phases. Each phase represents a round of funding allocated to new projects, not development stages within projects funded under this program. Applicants are requested to submit a letter of intent for each phase they intend to submit an application. Important information regarding registration and other pre-submission requirements are included in the funding opportunity announcement (FOA). Please refer to the FOA for details.

Total Funding Available: $3.4 billion, divided into two subgroups:

Approximately 40% ($1.36 billion) for smaller projects (federal cost share between $0.3 million and $20 million per project)
Approximately 60% ($2.04 billion) for larger projects (federal cost share between $20 million and $200 million per project)

Award Instrument: Grants
Period of Performance: Three years

Eligibility Requirements

All types of entities or teams of entities are eligible, except for the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Laboratories and all Federally Funded Research and Development Centers. Federal agencies are eligible for supporting (not lead/prime) roles only.

Participants in the Smart Grid Demonstration program (DE-FOA-0000036) may apply to this program only for distinctly different projects and may not use federal funds from both programs toward the same project.

Program Description

Through this FOA the DOE seeks to accelerate the modernization of the nation’s electric transmission and distribution systems and promote investments in smart grid technologies, tools, and techniques which, through integration in the final solution, increase flexibility, functionality, interoperability, cyber-security, situational awareness and operational efficiency. This financial assistance is intended to enable measurable improvements that can result from accelerated achievement of a modernized electric transmission and distribution system, including:

Reliability of the electric power system;
Electric power system costs and peak demand;
Consumer electricity costs, bills, and environmental impacts;
Clean energy development and greenhouse gas emissions; and
Economic opportunities for businesses and new jobs for workers.

Topic Areas

1) Equipment Manufacturing. Project applications in this topic area will be aimed at the production or purchase of smart grid systems, equipment, devices, software, or communications and control systems for modifying existing electric system equipment; building, office, commercial, or industrial equipment; consumer products and appliances; or distributed generation, demand response, or energy storage devices to enable the smart grid functions listed in Section 1306(d) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA).

2) Customer Systems. Project applications in this topic area will be aimed at adding smart grid functions to equipment and/or software applications including but not necessarily limited to “smart” appliances and equipment, home area networks, building or facility management systems, distributed energy systems, demand response equipment, load control systems for lowering peak demand, energy storage devices, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and microgrids.

3) Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Project applications in this topic area will be aimed at the installation of smart meters which are able to measure, store, send and receive digital information concerning electricity use, costs, prices and time-of-use between power companies and customers for purposes that include but are not necessarily limited to dynamic pricing, demand response, load management, billing, remote connect/disconnect, outage detection and management and tamper detection. This topic area also includes projects that involve dynamic pricing combined with processes for offering rate structures in a randomized and unbiased manner.

4) Electric Distribution Systems. Project applications in this topic area will be aimed at adding smart grid functions to local electric distribution systems in retail electricity markets. Projects will primarily involve adding smart grid functions to devices, equipment and/or software applications including but not necessarily limited to substations, transformer banks, feeder lines, pole top transformers, and customer interconnection and communications systems, up to but not necessarily including the meter.

5) Electric Transmission Systems. Project applications in this topic area will be aimed at adding smart grid functions to the electric transmission systems in bulk power markets that typically involve power delivery over long distances including multi-state regions. Projects will primarily involve adding smart grid functions to devices, equipment and/or software applications.

6) Integrated and/or Crosscutting Systems. Project applications in this topic area will be aimed at adding smart grid functions to multiple portions of the electric system. Projects in this topic area will tend to be large and involve equipment and/or software applications that cover two or more of the topic areas including, for example, “Advanced Metering Infrastructure” and “Electric Distribution Systems”; “Customer Systems and Advanced Metering Infrastructure”; or “Electric Transmission Systems” and “Electric Distribution Systems”.

Cost Sharing

The DOE is seeking recipient cost share of at least 50% of the total allowable costs for all recipients and must come from non-federal sources.