Clean Energy Communities Program

Description of goods to services to be bid:

•The following changes have been made to PON 3298: (December 13, 2023)

Made $25M in funding available.
• The Certain High Impact Actions (HIAs) (Unified Solar Permit, County Hosted Trainings – Battery Energy Storage for First Responders, Benchmarking – Municipal Buildings, and Opt-Out CDG) have been removed from the program.
• Municipalities where the Mayor’s Office is unable to accept incoming funds are now eligible to propose with an agency or department as the lead with a letter of support from the Mayor’s Office.
• There are Several new HIAs that have been added including additive achievement tiers for both existing and new actions.
• There are expanded grant opportunities for municipalities. Municipalities can now earn grants when achieving 1,000, 3,000, 5,000, 7,000, and 9,000 point thresholds. Grants will no longer be offered for municipalities that achieve 4,000 points.
• Municipalities that were notified of grant eligibility, but not yet awarded a grant, will submit using Leadership Round rules and procedures after the release of PON CEC Round 3.0.
• Municipalities that have already been awarded a grant in the Leadership Round are not eligible to receive a CEC Round 3.0 grant at the same threshold level.
• Municipalities who enter 3.0 with 1,000 points to 2,900 points are eligible to earn the 1,000 Designation grant upon being approved for one (1) more HIA.
• Municipalities that enter 3.0 with 5,000 or more points and did not receive a 5,000 Points-Based grant in the Leadership Rounder are eligible for the CEC Round 3.0’s 5,000 Designation Grant upon being approved for one (1) more HIA.
• Municipalities who that enter CEC Round 3.0 with 7,000 or more points are eligible to earn the 7,000 Designation grant upon being approved for one (1) more HIA.
• Grant funding for points-based grants has increased.
• DAC bonus grant caps are removed. The DAC bonus grant has changed from a set $10,000 per grant to up to an additional 50% bonus funding per project implemented in a DAC census tract.
• DAC bonus grants can now be earned for grants over $5,000 as opposed to $20,000 and over.
• Grant projects for Non-Road Vehicles and Flexible Technical Assistance have been added to the pre-approved project types.
• A streamlined grant participation path has been added to the program for grants less than $30,000.
• Grant extension requests will no longer be offered, wherein in the Leadership Round, one extension was offered. Grant applications that are rejected will have one opportunity to resubmit another application within 60 days. In the Leadership Round there was no timing restriction on rejected applications
• The scoring criteria for Custom Grant Projects has been changed to evaluate whether the proposed grant project is expected to achieve at least one ton of greenhouse gas savings per $10,000 spent on the project.
• Communities that complete, or have completed, the HIA for Advanced Benchmarking are eligible for a Clean Energy Communities Energy Study at no cost to the municipality by submitting associated documentation.

This revision to NYSERDA's Clean Energy Communities (CEC) Program makes the following changes to the previous solicitation - Effective 6/1/2023:

- Removal of campaign High Impact Action (HIA) for Demand Response campaign.
- Removal of the energy efficiency option for Clean Heating and Cooling campaigns and clarifying eligibility requirements for all campaign types.
- Removal of Solar For All from Community Solar campaign types.
- Increase the number of available grants for three types of Community Campaigns; Community Solar, Electric Vehicles, and Clean Heating and Cooling. Communities that successfully completed and were approved for one of these expanded HIA’s but did not receive a grant will be notified of funding eligibility.
- Add HIA Achievement Levels 2 and 3 for Community Solar, Electric Vehicles, and Clean Heating and Cooling campaigns that allow for additional points and funding opportunities.
-Removed selection criteria for custom projects: “Does the proposal include an implementation component, not only a study or plan?”.

This modification will also add an additional pre-approved project application type for electric landscaping equipment as well as update the Disadvantaged Community Bonus to reflect the Climate Justice Working Group’s Disadvantaged Community definition.

The Contract Manager information has been updated to reflect current work assignments.

Local governments are critical partners in achieving a new energy vision for New York State. As such, municipal leaders play a critical role in affecting energy choices in their communities, both in terms of government operations, and also across homes, businesses, and community institutions. The Clean Energy Communities Program provides grants, direct technical support to communities, and recognition to local governments that demonstrate leadership in the area of clean energy. announces revisions to Clean Energy Communities PON 3298.

EFFECTIVE December 16, 2021
Solicitation Changes include:
1) Communities that completed the Community Campaign for Clean Heating and Cooling and Energy Efficiency action prior to November 18, 2021 will be awarded 300 additional points retroactively.

2) Corrects the date by which the NYStretch must take effect. The date is June 30, 2021, not June 31, 2021.

3) Includes a statement in the PON that to be eligible for a Disadvantaged Community Bonus grant for a custom project type, applicants must demonstrate that the benefits of the project or initiative are confined to the Disadvantaged Community area.

4) Clarifies that eligible building upgrades recommended in a Clean Energy Communities Energy Study or ASHRAE Level II or III Energy Audit may be funded by Clean Energy Community grants provided the audit are completed no more than five years prior to application.

EFFECTIVE November 18, 2021

Solicitation Changes include:
1) Expands applicant eligibility to include municipal utility and rural cooperative electric communities in New York State.
2) Changes the 100% Renewable Electricity high-impact action to clarify that RECs generated by state-owned resources including New York Power Authority-owned facilities do not qualify. It also clarifies that RECs must be produced in the same year as the electricity consumption.
3) Changes the Clean Energy Upgrades high-impact action so that project components that were substantially complete after August 1, 2016 may be used to earn credit for this action. Removes premium-efficiency wood pellets as a qualified renewable energy source.
4) Changes the Clean Heating and Cooling Demo high-impact action to increase the number of points earned for completing the action and to clarify which technologies are eligible. In addition, ground- and/or air-source heat pump systems that become operational as the building’s primary heating and cooling systems after August 1, 2016 may earn credit for this action. Communities that completed the Clean Heating and Cooling Demo action prior to November 18, 2021 will be awarded 200 additional points retroactively.
5) Expands eligibility for the LED Street Lights high-impact action to all communities.
6) Creates a new County-Hosted Trainings high-impact action applicable to county governments.
7) Provides additional details in the Clean Fleets high-impact action to clarify which technologies are eligible.
8) Changes the Community Choice Aggregation – Opt-Out Community Distributed Generation (CDG) action to clarify the requirements and allow communities to enroll all eligible assistance program participants (APPs) as an alternative form of compliance.
9) Changes the NYStretch Energy Code Action to extend the date in which the code must take effect by to June 31, 2022. It also includes changes to clarify the requirements and
to add a new requirement that the municipality file with the New York State Department of State pursuant to Energy Law §11-109.
10) Changes the Community Campaigns action to clarify requirements including that communities pursuing Community Campaigns for Demand Response must develop partnerships with New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) or utility demand response programs and/or providers.
11) Changes the Community Campaigns action by establishing different required number of campaign participants for each campaign type.
12) Changes the Community Campaigns action by altering the number of action grant awards and funding amounts for each campaign type.
13) Changes the Community Campaign for Electric Vehicles to clarify that vehicles must be new and purchased to qualify.
14) Increases the number of points earned for completing a Community Campaign for Clean Heating and Cooling and Energy Efficiency from 200 to 500.
15) Clarifies the requirement that a signed letter of commitment be submitted with each Clean Energy Communities Grant Application.
16) Updates the Grant Application Workbook to address glitches and to improve user experience.
17) Updates the Building Upgrades pre-approved project type in the Grant Application Workbook to allow energy upgrades to be completed if identified in an ASHRAE Level II or III audit, provided the audit was prepared no more than five years before the date of application. Adds an option to use grant funding for Clean Heating and Cooling Screenings for buildings to be performed by NYSERDA-selected contractors.
18) Updates the Grant Application Workbook to allow the applicant to propose projects in a Disadvantaged Community that are not site-specific but where benefits are confined to the Disadvantaged Community area.
19) Updates the Sample Statement of Work to include a separate project component when a community elects to use their grant funds for one or more Clean Energy Communities Energy Studies and/or Clean Heating and Cooling Screenings. In addition, the Statement of Work has been updated to include all the various requirements and deliverables that may come in to play depending on the grant project type.

If changes are made to this solicitation notification will be posted on NYSERDA’s website at: www.nyserda.ny.gov/funding-opportunities

Eligibility/Qualifications Requirements/Preferences:

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