Funding Procedure of the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

In fiscal year 2009, more than $2.2 billion in federal funding was awarded to businesses, industries, universities and others through Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) financial assistance programs.

Because competitive grants are the most common type of financial assistance awarded by EERE, this section uses a solicited, competitive grant to explain the financial assistance process. However, competitive cooperative agreements are handled in the same manner.

Like most federal government funding, funding for EERE financial assistance awards is authorized by an appropriation approved by the U.S. Congress. Congress determines the overall budget for Department of Energy activities, and this amount determines how much money will eventually be available for EERE financial assistance awards.

Each fiscal year, the President must submit a federal budget to Congress. This budget estimates federal income and spending and recommends funding levels for the federal government for the upcoming year. The President's budget is created, with assistance from the Office of Management and Budget, from the budget requests of federal departments and agencies.

The U.S. Congress, in turn, develops a budget resolution. This outlines its federal budget goals for the next 5 fiscal years and is used as a guide for the House and Senate appropriations committees' work on legislation to fund the activities of the government. With a budget resolution in place, Congress can begin developing appropriations legislation.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate have committees dedicated to appropriation issues. These committees have subcommittees that review appropriation legislation to allocate funds to government agencies. Each subcommittee considers the portion of the President's request within its jurisdiction, the testimony of government officials, public input, and its own priorities to "mark up" the legislation. When it has finished, the subcommittee passes the bill on to the full committee. The full committee reviews the bill and may also modify it. If the bill is reported out of the committee, it moves to the floor for consideration by all members. The bill is debated, and may be passed or further amended.

Traditionally, appropriation bills start in the House of Representatives. After an appropriation bill is passed by the House of Representatives, the Senate begins its process and uses the House version as its basis.

When appropriation bills are passed by the full House and Senate, a conference committee made up of members of both chambers is formed to negotiate a common version that is acceptable to both sides. After an appropriations bill is passed by Congress, it is sent to the President, who has 10 days to veto it or sign it into law. If he does neither, the bill automatically becomes law after the 10-day period.

Once appropriations are passed, the Department of Energy disburses the funds to the appropriate agencies and programs. These organizations can then determine how much funding will be available for financial assistance awards. In the Office EERE, each program also determines its research priorities for the year. The available financial assistance money is divided among these areas.

Most financial assistance is awarded through a competitive process. Competition ensures awards are given based on merit and results in better research results for the Department of Energy and Office of EERE. Merit review means a thorough, consistent, and independent examination of applications based on pre-established criteria. In addition, applications may be reviewed based on program policy factors such as achieving diversity in geographic distribution; type and size of recipients; and methods, approaches, and kinds of work.

The competitive solicitation process begins when EERE issues a solicitation. Solicitations identify program objective(s) and requirement(s) as well as information such as the due date, contact(s), available funding, anticipated number of awards and the period of performance. Solicitations also include applicant eligibility requirements cost-share and Energy Policy Act Eligibility requirements.

In response to the solicitation requirements, the applicant develops a technical proposal which explains the proposed method of achieving the technical, budget, personnel and project scheduling requirements of the solicitation. To learn how to create a proposal, see the Catalog of Federal and Domestic Assistance Developing and Writing Grant Proposals.

After the submission deadline, EERE personnel and a field of reviewers conduct an initial review to determine the applicants' response to the criteria set for in the solicitation. Proposals determined to be nonresponsive to the requirements of the solicitation are removed from consideration, and their submitters are notified in writing of the decision. Proposals that pass the initial reviews are forwarded for merit review and/or a program policy review. Proposals selected for funding are notified of their award and begin preparations for their initiation.