This competitive grant program provides grants to eligible applicants for projects that provide a benefit to Iowa ratepayers.
Donor Name: Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA)
State: Iowa
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 03/23/2023
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $1,000,000
Details:
The IEC Competitive Grant Program is funded by Iowa utility ratepayers. Funds will be used for projects that aid in the implementation of the seven key focus areas of the Iowa Energy Plan and provide a benefit to the Iowa ratepayers. For the purposes of this program, a ratepayer is defined as a customer who pays for an electric or natural gas utility service in the state of Iowa.
Eligible projects will have a focus on one or more of the following areas:
- Energy workforce development
- Projects should aim to assist Iowa in attracting and training professionals to meet the state’s future energy needs.
- Technology-based energy research and development
- Projects should aim to develop and bring to market energy technologies through collaborative state and private partnerships.
- Biomass conversion
- Projects should help Iowa realize the value-added attributes of biomass in the development of bioenergy, biofuels and biochemicals.
- Natural gas expansion in underserved areas
- Projects should support the expansion of natural gas buildout to rural communities where its absence is a limiting factor to economic development.
- Support for rural and underserved areas
- Projects should support rural and underserved areas and vulnerable populations through opportunities for greater access to energy efficiency expertise, training and programs.
- Electric grid modernization
- Projects should assist electric grid stakeholders in establishing a vision for what the modernized grid should look like for Iowa.
- Alternative fuel vehicles
- Projects should support the growing biofuels and electric vehicle markets in Iowa, including the buildout of its charging and biofuels infrastructure.
- Carbon management
- Projects should create carbon value through research, agricultural stewardship and energy generation.
Focus Areas
This competitive grant program provides grants to eligible applicants for projects that provide a benefit to Iowa ratepayers. A ratepayer is defined as a customer who pays for an electric or natural gas utility service in the state of Iowa. Projects must also aid in the implementation of one of the key focus areas of the Iowa Energy Plan:
- Technology-based Energy Research and Development
- Energy Workforce Development
- Support for Rural and Underserved Areas
- Biomass Conversion
- Natural Gas Expansion in Underserved Areas
- Electric Grid Modernization
- Alternative Fuel Vehicles
- Carbon Management
Funding Information
Request is for no less than $10,000 and no more than $1,000,000.
Eligible Uses of Fund
Only expenditures directly related to the implementation of the funded grant activity will be reimbursed.
Examples of eligible expenses include, but are not limited to:
- Salaries/wages
- Supplies and materials
- Domestic travel
- Tuition
- Equipment purchases, which must be approved by the board at the time the award is made
- Vehicle purchases, which are eligible only when the purchase of the vehicle is an integral part of the funded grant activity and must be approved by the board at the time the award is made
Eligible Applicants
- Iowa businesses, colleges and universities, and private nonprofit agencies and foundations are eligible to apply.
- An eligible applicant may submit an application that includes one or more sub-recipients.
- An eligible applicant may apply individually or jointly with another eligible or other eligible applicants.
- A principal investigator will be allowed to submit one application per funding announcement. An applicant who has applied as the principal investigator for a funding announcement may also be named as a co-investigator on additional applications submitted but may not be named as a principal investigator on additional applications.
- An eligible applicant may apply jointly with ineligible applicants, but the applicant cannot act solely as a passthrough to the ineligible entity.
Requirements
Requirements for IEC grant awards include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Applicants shall demonstrate a benefit for ratepayers.
- Applicants shall demonstrate that they are eligible candidates.
- Applicants shall demonstrate the capacity for grants administration.
- Applicants who have previously received IEC awards shall have demonstrated acceptable past performance, including the timely expenditure of funds.
- Applications shall demonstrate the feasibility of completing the proposed activities with the funds requested
- Applications shall identify and describe any other sources of funding for the proposed activities.
For more information, visit IEDA.