Energy Technology Innovation Partnership Project: Coastal, Remote, and Island Community Technical Assistance

ETIPP is open to communities and organizations in the United States and its territories. To be eligible for the program, a community must be based in an ETIPP-supported region, as defined by the program's existing Regional Partners and must meet at least one of these criteria:

• The applicant community is located on an island.
• The applicant community is located in Alaska.
• The applicant community is within 50 miles of a coastline (ocean or seacoast, or along the Great Lakes).
• The applicant community has a population of fewer than 50,000.
• The applicant community is a federally recognized Tribe.

Additional eligibility requirements include:

• The lead applicant is a local government (e.g., municipality, county, city, town), a Tribe or Tribal organization, a community-based organization (including nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations), a special purpose district (e.g., school district, water district, sewer district), an academic institution, a municipal utility, or an electric co-op.
• Private entities that are part of an application must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the United States.
• Academic institutions that are part of an application must be based in the United States.

Applicants that are ineligible for ETIPP include:

• Individuals
• DOE employees, employees of sponsoring organizations, members of their immediate families (e.g., spouses, children, siblings, or parents), and persons living in the same household as such persons, whether or not related
• Individuals who worked at DOE (federal employees or support service contractors) within 6 months prior to the submission deadline
• Federal entities and federal employees
• DOE national laboratory employees
• Entities and individuals publicly banned from doing business with the U.S. government, such as entities and individuals debarred, suspended, or otherwise excluded from or ineligible for participating in federal programs
• Entities identified in Department of Homeland Security Binding Operational Directives as publicly banned from doing business with the U.S. government
• Entities and individuals identified as restricted parties on one or more screening lists of Department of Commerce, State, or the Treasury
• Individuals participating in a malign foreign talent recruitment program* and applicant communities that include such individuals
• Entities owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign country of concern.

Only one application per applicant will be accepted during each application cycle.

If you are unsure whether you are eligible, reach out to an ETIPP Regional Partner for more information or contact ETIPP@nlr.gov.

* Malign Foreign Talent Recruitment Program is defined in P.L. 117-167, section 10638(4).

Selected communities must agree to participate in the following activities:

• Participate in virtual meetings (30–90 minutes each) with ETIPP staff every 2–4 weeks during project scoping and throughout the remainder of the project.
• Strategic energy planning projects are expected to last 4–8 months.
• Technical deep dive projects are expected to last 12–24 months.
• Provide information and input requests by ETIPP staff in a timely manner.
• Submit feedback about your experience in ETIPP every 6 months during project execution and 6–12 months after its conclusion.
• Be available to other local communities to share your experience and lessons learned via webinar or conference call.
• Coordinate with community members and other stakeholders needed to participate in ETIPP meetings.
• Provide ETIPP staff with data to facilitate evaluation of the outputs and outcomes of projects the ETIPP program has supported; data will be kept confidential to the extent permitted by law.

Prospective ETIPP communities must arrange for at least two external organizations distinct from the applicant's organization to submit Stakeholder Support Forms to endorse their applications. Ideally, these supporters should play a role in decision-making for proposed ETIPP projects. Stakeholders may include community organizations, government leaders, and other groups. Regional Partner organizations can help communities identify stakeholders to support their projects.

Stakeholders can fill out the Stakeholder Support Form online, or download a PDF of the Stakeholder Support Form and email it to ETIPP@nlr.gov.

Additionally, each applicant must connect with their servicing power utility to collect a letter of support that acknowledges the need for intermittent participation in meetings and/or the need to solicit data to inform project analysis.* Please email utility letters of support to ETIPP@nlr.gov.

All supporting forms and letters must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. MT on Nov. 18, 2026.

Complete el formulario de apoyo de las partes interesadas en línea o descargue un PDF.

* If you experience challenges securing a letter of support from your servicing utility and/or if you expect to need data from another entity, please contact your regional partner, who will coordinate with ETIPP management to find a path forward for your project.

Read the ETIPP Terms and Conditions to learn more about the terms of participating in ETIPP.

Lea los Términos y Condiciones de ETIPP para obtener más información sobre los términos de participación en ETIPP.

Renewable Energy Alaska Project
Steve Cleary
scleary@realaska.org

Hispanic Federation
Jonathan Castillo
jcastillo@hispanicfederation.org

Slipstream
Lonna Berg
lberg@slipstreaminc.org

Rob Kline
rkline@slipstreaminc.org

Southeast Sustainability Directors Network
Jake Leech
jake@southeastsdn.org

Hawaii State Energy Office
Eric Sippert
eric.n.sippert@hawaii.gov
808-447-9093

Island Institute
Brenna Cohen
bcohen@islandinstitute.org
207-553-3184

Kate Klibansky
kklibansky@islandinstitute.org

Spark Northwest
Mia Devine
mia@sparknorthwest.org
206-460-5661

Groundswell
John Roberts, Jr.
john.roberts@groundswell.org

David Wright
david.wright@groundswell.org

ETIPP advances coastal, remote, and island communities toward their self-defined energy resilience goals. ETIPP provides technical support using a community-driven approach to identify and plan strategic energy and resilience solutions that address communities' specific challenges. This approach leverages the experience and expertise of local community leaders, residents, and organizations within the ETIPP partner network.

Energy resilience is the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to changing conditions and withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from energy disruptions.

While ETIPP does not have a size limit, applicant communities must meet at least one of the eligibility requirements noted in the named section, which may include population restrictions. In addition to other eligibility conditions, each applicant community must meet at least one of these criteria:

• It is located on an island.
• It is located in Alaska.
• Is within 50 miles of a coastline (ocean or seacoast, or along the Great Lakes).
• It has a population of fewer than 50,000.
• It is a federally recognized Tribe.
  

All teams will be evaluated on their engagement with a local community partner, but teams can include support from regional or state development organizations as well.

Nonprofits are eligible, as are special-purpose districts, such as a school district or an administrative district.

Eligible applicants can propose one project with multiple goals. If a community is selected, ETIPP's scoping process can help further define the scope of the project and identify which options would best address the community's challenges, goals, and priorities. It's for this reason that applicants are strongly encouraged to reach out to an ETIPP Regional Partner to collaboratively prioritize and define the scope of the project they wish to propose.

ETIPP technical assistance is not available for:

• Buying or installing equipment (e.g., solar panels, wind turbines, wind measurement towers)
• Writing grants
• Providing advocacy support.

ETIPP does not provide advocacy support. However, an ETIPP technical lead and/or Regional Partner can help communities understand energy resilience needs and the potential impacts of various policies and technology pathways, which can inform energy policies and decision-making.

Selected communities may have the opportunity to receive funds (up to $20,000 for communities selected for strategic energy planning and up to $50,000 for those engaging with deep-dive technical assistance) for services rendered to help implement the technical support.

The total time commitment varies based on the type of technical support project—Strategic Energy planning or technical Deep Dive. Strategic Energy Planning is a 4- to 8-month effort that supports communities in developing actionable goals for their energy resilience planning. Regional Partners and supporting lab technical experts will work with the communities to guide the planning effort, resulting in a completed strategic energy plan that includes a high-level energy assessment and baseline, individualized community goals, and a unique community action plan that defines energy resilience and affordability activities in the near-, mid-, and long-term. The Deep Dive technical assistance track is for communities with an existing and current energy plan (developed within the last 5 years) or specific project that fits within the scope and purview of ETIPP. The Deep Dive track can last 12–24 months and will result in a thorough analysis led by national lab technical subject matter experts. Within both technical assistance tracks, community members should expect to join virtual meetings at a cadence developed by the technical assistance team (e.g., 1-hour biweekly calls), as well as host one or two in-person site visits with the lab and Regional Partner team members. Applicants should consider whether the proposed project is feasible within the time parameters of ETIPP technical support.

The competitiveness depends on the total number of communities that apply. When a community is not selected, ETIPP will notify the applicant and work with the Regional Partner and national labs to identify any resources or funding opportunities that can better address the specific challenges of the community.