Additional Opportunities

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The Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP) supports the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) mission to achieve a 100% clean energy economy by 2050, catalyze the creation of American jobs, and advance energy justice in underserved communities. SCEP's mission is to enable strategic investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies using innovative practices across the United States.

To help accomplish its mission, SCEP leads voluntary partnership initiatives with public-sector stakeholders, including states, local governments, K–12 school districts, and community-based nonprofits. All partnership initiatives are voluntary, with partners typically making a good-faith commitment toward achieving a measurable goal or outcome by a specific date. As a part of this partnership, DOE shares:

  • Tools and resources that provide targeted, step-by-step instructions for action.
  • Opportunities for peer exchange and dialogue with experts.
  • Recognition for achievements and demonstration of replicable best practices. 

Below are some of SCEP's current voluntary partnership opportunities.

SWIFt Initiative

Across the country, municipal wastewater treatment facilities consume more than 30 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year, which equates to about $2 billion in annual electric costs. Electricity alone can constitute 25% to 40% of a wastewater treatment facility's annual operating budget and make up 15% to 30% of the municipality's total energy bill.

The Sustainable Wastewater Infrastructure of the Future (SWIFt) Initiative helps public water and wastewater treatment facilities reduce their energy consumption and operating costs. 

Through SWIFt, DOE plans to work with at least 300 facilities to set 5% short-term and 25% long-term energy savings goals by 2024. The partnership opportunity is available to all states, local governments, utilities, and facilities. There is no cost or facility size requirement to participate. 

From 2016–2019, over 70 wastewater facilities used the tools and resources in SWIFt's Wastewater Energy Management Toolkit to cumulatively achieve almost 7% (131 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in energy savings and put in place plans for 30% long-term energy savings. SWIFt is currently in its second phase, or Phase 2. 

SWIFt Phase 2 partners can select from the following three options: 

  • SWIFt Toolkit Training—This training is designed for facilities interested in prioritizing energy savings and introducing the building blocks of energy management into their operations to achieve 5% short-term and 25% long-term energy savings. The toolkit training covers energy data management, efficiency and advanced technology upgrades, project financing, and strategic energy management planning. 

    DOE collaborates with state and local partners to create custom content for the SWIFt Toolkit Training to fit within existing state programs or address regional challenges or barriers facing facilities.  
     
  • SWIFt Energy Recovery Accelerator—The Accelerator is designed for wastewater treatment facilities that are ready to adopt advanced energy technologies. Facilities will receive tailored technical assistance based on their selection of one of four focus areas: energy capture, energy efficiency, resource recovery, or advanced data management.
     
  • 50001 Ready Cohort for Wastewater—The 50001 Ready program provides free technical assistance to helps wastewater treatment facilities get on a path toward deeper and more sustained energy savings—helping them attain their energy, carbon, or cost reduction goals. The cohort program includes six to twelve months of support from national ISO 50001 experts delivered via monthly cohort group training webinars, monthly virtual one-on-one coaching sessions with each site, on-demand guidance on the use of 50001 Ready tools and resources, and opportunities for peer-to-peer learning.

How to Participate

This is an active initiative.

SCIPT Accelerator

Correctional facilities are multi-building campuses with year-round 24/7 operations, making the approximately 1,100 state and federal correctional facilities in the United States major consumers of energy and water. Correctional facilities represent a significant load on the resources and budgets of the small and rural communities where 70% of them are located.

The Sustainable Corrections Infrastructure Partnership (SCIP) Accelerator continues to welcome new state, local, and federal partners to implement energy management and plan for facility upgrades leading to 20% energy savings and sustainable corrections infrastructure. 

Accelerator partners will leverage energy and water efficiency, renewable energy technologies paired with storage, and strategic energy management systems to reduce operating and maintenance costs in public correctional facilities, while maintaining facility security and resilience. 

How to Participate 

This is an active initiative.

Sign up or find additional resources on the Better Buildings Solution Center's SCIP Accelerator webpage, or contact the State and Local Inbox at stateandlocal@ee.doe.gov

Technology Action Groups (TAGs) for State Energy Offices

The State Energy Program (SEP) provides funding and technical assistance to 50 states, 5 territories, and the District of Columbia to enhance energy security, advance state-led energy initiatives, and increase energy affordability. 

Technology Action Groups (TAGs) are a new multi-year pilot initiative within SEP to facilitate collaboration between DOE and the 56 State Energy Offices.

Participation in the TAGs is voluntary and allows states to coordinate their efforts and receive technical assistance from DOE. Specific technologies explored by the TAGs are determined by the participating states' interests. The first two TAGs were launched in summer 2021 and cover the following topics:

  • Topic 1: Onsite energy systems at critical facilities—States work together to develop plans for onsite energy systems that can power critical facilities during grid outages and normal operation. This TAG examines a wide range of technologies, such as storage and energy efficiency.
     
  • Topic 2: Main Street revitalization—States work together to identify successful strategies for targeting Main Street communities and small businesses to stimulate local energy efficiency and renewable energy projects performed by local professionals that reduce energy bills.

A requirement of the TAG model is that states dedicate a portion of their formula funds to work in the area of the action group, and SEP is allowing states the flexibility to determine what activities to pursue in the TAG area. States may choose to fund technology deployment programs or staff time to develop plans for future technology deployment programs. SEP will encourage states to make actionable plans for progress in the TAG topic areas. Future TAG topics will be determined in collaboration with states.

How to Participate

This is an active initiative.

SCEP supports more than 75 public-sector partners in the Better Buildings Challenge. These states, local governments, and K-12 school district partners make a voluntary commitment to reduce the energy use of their building portfolios by 20% within 10 years and are making progress toward their energy reduction goals. 

As of 2020, public-sector Challenge partners have cumulatively saved 109 trillion British thermal units (Btus) of energy, $1 billion, and 1.5 billion gallons of water since the Better Buildings Challenge launched in 2011. Learn more and find resources by visiting the Better Buildings Solution Center.

Better Buildings Low Carbon Pilot

The Better Buildings Low Carbon Pilot launched in 2021 to demonstrate pathways to achieve low- or zero-carbon buildings and manufacturing plants. Partners will share their experiences, successes, and challenges pursuing low-carbon strategies at two or more of their buildings or plants within a two-year timeframe. 

The initial cohort of partners will inform DOE's strategy moving forward and be instrumental in helping the broader market understand the correlation between carbon dioxide emissions reduction, energy efficiency, cost savings, and resilience. 

How to Participate

This is an active initiative.

Better Climate Challenge

DOE announced a new effort that invites organizations to set ambitious, portfolio-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals. This new challenge provides additional opportunities for peer exchange and technical assistance to meet the urgent call to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

More specifically, through the Better Climate Challenge, organizations can partner with DOE to reduce Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions (emissions produced from an organization's controlled, owned, or purchased sources) across their building portfolios by at least 50% within 10 years. DOE will provide technical assistance and opportunities to learn and share actionable best practices for operational carbon reduction.

How to Participate

This is an active initiative.

Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) is a proven contracting and financing method public sector building owners can employ to improve building efficiency, reduce energy, water, and operational expenses, and tackle deferred maintenance. By partnering with an energy services company, building owners can implement facility improvements with little or no upfront capital by leveraging a guaranteed multi-year stream of avoided utility and other costs.
 
The ESPC Campaign engages public sector organizations and other stakeholders across the municipal and state governments, universities and colleges, K-12 schools and hospitals (MUSH) market to support, expand and enhance the use of ESPC through the dissemination of tools, resources and best practice approaches.
 
Through the ESPC Campaign, DOE will work with partners to increase technical capacity and expand ESPC accessibility, strengthen ESPC projects and programs through the adoption of best practice approaches, and track project and savings data to demonstrate impact.
 
DOE will provide technical assistance and facilitate peer exchange and networking opportunities to support public sector partners in cumulatively achieving $1 billion in measured and verified savings by 2030.
 
How to Participate
 
This is an active initiative.

Visit the ESPC Campaign webpage or contact ESPCcampaign@hq.doe.gov to learn more or join the ESPC Campaign.

Explore DOE Toolkits

Toolkits are collections of resources that include best practices and replicable models developed by and for public-sector partners through DOE initiatives. The toolkits outlined below are the result of previous SCEP voluntary partnership initiatives.    

The Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE or Commercial PACE) Toolkit is an outcome of DOE's C-PACE Working Group. The C-PACE Working Group represents a three-year partnership (2018–2020) of state and local governments that collaborated to learn about, launch, and refine C-PACE financing programs. By 2021, the working group stimulated $70 million in C-PACE investments among 17 state and local partners, exceeding a $60 million goal two years ahead of schedule.

The Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) Toolkit features tools and resources that 25 state and local government partners in the ESPC Accelerator used from 2016-2019 to invest $2.1 billion in energy efficiency and create a legacy to support ESPC into the future, including sector-specific primers (e.g., K–12 schools, fleets and fueling infrastructure, water resource recovery facilities, and small projects). 

The Wastewater Energy Management Toolkit features tools and resources from more than 25 state, local, and regional partners that represented more than 70 wastewater resource recovery facilities used in 2016-2019 to cumulatively achieve almost 7% (131 million kWh) in energy savings and put in place plans for 30% long-term energy savings. The Toolkit is the result of Phase 1 of the Sustainable Wastewater Infrastructure of the Future (SWIFt) Accelerator. SWIFt Phase 2 is currently welcoming partners (see SWIFt Initiative section above).
 

The Clean Energy for Low-Income Communities Accelerator (CELICA) Toolkit provides an overview of tools, resources, and models for developing low-income energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. This toolkit provides materials to help program administrators reduce energy burden for low-income communities by enhancing and expanding upon work funded through utility, state, or federal programs. The CELICA Toolkit is an outcome of a two-year partnership with over 30 stakeholders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

The Outdoor Lighting Toolkit is an outcome of the Outdoor Lighting Accelerator that successfully worked with 25 state and local partners to garner a commitment to upgrade 1.3 million streetlights that, once achieved, will save partners an estimated $48 million per year. 

To find other toolkits from across DOE, please visit the Better Buildings Solution Center.

To find other toolkits from across DOE, please visit the Better Buildings Solution Center.

Find SCEP Projects in Your State

To find out if your state or region has partnered with SCEP on any past or current initiatives, please visit the interactive SCEP Project Map. The Project Map allows users to find local State Energy Program and Weatherization Assistance Program projects, recently published success stories, and voluntary partnerships including Better Buildings Initiatives. Learn more by visiting the SCEP Project Map.