Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities

The summary for the Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities grant is detailed below. This summary states who is eligible for the grant, how much grant money will be awarded, current and past deadlines, Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) numbers, and a sampling of similar government grants. Verify the accuracy of the data FederalGrants.com provides by visiting the webpage noted in the Link to Full Announcement section or by contacting the appropriate person listed as the Grant Announcement Contact. If any section is incomplete, please visit the website for the Utilities Programs, which is the U.S. government agency offering this grant.

Assistance to High Energy Cost Rural Communities: RUS is making available $11.3 million in competitive grants under section 19 of the Rural Electrification Act of 1936 (the RE Act)(7 U.S.C. 918a) to make grants to "acquire, construct, extend, upgrade, and otherwise improve energy genergation, transmission, or distribution facilities serving communities in which the average residential expenditure for home energy is at least 275 percent of the national average residential expenditure for home energy. The purpose of this grant program is to provide financial assistance for a broad range of energy facilities, equipment and related activities to offset the impacts of extremely high residential energy costs on eligible communities. Eligible facilities include on-grid and off-grid renewable energy systems and implementation of cost-effective demand side management and energy conservation programs that benefit eligible communities. Eligible applicants include "persons, States, political subdivisions of States, and other entities organized under the laws of States." Under section 13 of the RE Act (7 U.S.C. 913) "the term person shall be deemed to mean any natural person, firm, corporation, or association." Indian tribes and tribal entities are eligible applicants and beneficiaries under this program. No cost sharing or matching funds are required as a condition of eligibility under this grant program. However, RUS will consider other financial resources available to the grantee and any voluntary commitment of matching funds or other contributions in assessing the grantee's capacity to carry out the grant program successfully and will award additional evaluation points to proposals that include such contributions. As a further condition of each grant, section 19(b)(2) of the RE Act requires that planning and administrative expenses may not exceed 4 percent of the grant funds.