The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced plans to invest up to $80 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act/Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support small and medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) to implement recommendations provided through DOE-supported Industrial Assessment Centers (IACs) and Combined Heat and Power Technical Assistance Partnership (CHP TAPs) assessments conducted between 2018 and 2023. These projects are meant to improve energy and material efficiency, enhance cybersecurity, increase productivity, deploy smart and advanced manufacturing technologies, and reduce waste and pollution at SMM facilities. Also, the DOE is soliciting applications from third-party assessors interested in qualifying their assessment as “equivalent” to IAC assessments, which will make their clients eligible for these grants in future funding rounds. Please visit the announcement website to read more about the opportunity and register for a virtual “Objective Strategic Session (OSS)” question and answer session to be held on June 14th at 2 PM ET. Questions can also be e-mailed to info@energywerx.org.
NASEO, through its State Industrial/Manufacturing Working Group, has been working with State Energy Offices, technical assistance providers (including the IAC and CHP TAP programs), and others to identify, develop, and enhance resources to help manufacturing industries meet their goals and state objectives for economic development and competitiveness, emissions reduction and environmental protection, and energy reliability, resilience, and security. Please contact industry@naseo.org for more information.