[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 28 (Friday, February 10, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8837-8838]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-02854]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Intent Regarding the Future Release of Guidance and 
Application for the Hydroelectric Efficiency Improvement Incentives

AGENCY: Grid Deployment Office, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of intent (NOI).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) Grid Deployment Office (GDO) 
intends to release the final guidance and open the 2023 application 
period for the Hydroelectric Efficiency Improvement Incentives as 
authorized through the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) and 
amended by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021, 
in the second quarter of calendar year 2023. This notice provides 
preliminary information regarding the GDO's Hydroelectric Efficiency 
Improvement Incentives Program, including application requirements and 
processes that will be further described in the guidance accompanying 
the upcoming solicitation. All the information contained in this notice 
is subject to change.

ADDRESSES: The future application period announcement will be published 
in the Federal Register and guidance will be made available via the GDO 
website https://www.energy.gov/gdo/section-243-hydroelectric-efficiency-improvement-incentives-program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions may be addressed to Ms. 
Luciana Ciocci, U.S. Department of Energy, Grid Deployment Office, 1000 
Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC, 20585, (202) 480-5768 or by email 
at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the coming weeks, the Grid Deployment 
Office intends to open the 2023 application period for section 243 of 
EPAct 2005, Hydroelectric Efficiency Improvement Incentives, as amended 
by section 40332 IIJA of 2021, Public Law 117-58.\1\ At that time, GDO 
will also make available an accompanying guidance document that will 
describe the application process and the information necessary for the 
Secretary of Energy to make incentive payments to owners and authorized 
operators of qualified hydroelectric facilities at existing dams to be 
used to make capital improvements in the facilities that are directly 
related to improving the efficiency of such facilities by at least 
three percent pursuant to section 243 of EPAct 2005.\2\ GDO previously 
released a request for information (RFI) and held a public webinar 
related to section 243 incentive. See 87 FR 40515 (Jul. 7, 2022). The 
information gathered through the RFI and webinar were used to support 
the development of the guidance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Public Law 117-58, div. D, title III, Sec.  40332(a).
    \2\ 42 U.S.C. 15882(a).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The guidance will describe the application process and the 
information necessary for the Secretary of Energy to make incentive 
payments to owners and authorized operators of qualified hydroelectric 
facilities pursuant to section 243 of EPAct 2005, Hydroelectric 
Efficiency Improvement Incentives. Topics include, eligibility 
requirements, general application requirements and process, procedures 
for processing applications, allocation of funding for eligible 
projects in the event of oversubscription, and funding restrictions.
    Under the statute, the incentive payments include the following 
limitations: an incentive payment shall not exceed 30 percent of the 
costs of the applicable capital improvement(s); and no more than one 
incentive payment may be made to a single qualified hydroelectric 
facility in any fiscal year that shall not exceed $5,000,000.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ 42 U.S.C. 15882(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    GDO intends to open the 2023 application period by publishing a 
notice in the Federal Register, in the coming weeks, and releasing the 
guidance online, which will be located at https://www.energy.gov/gdo/section-243-hydroelectric-efficiency-improvement-incentives-program. 
GDO anticipates utilizing the Clean Energy Infrastructure Funding 
Opportunity eXCHANGE for submission of applications once the 
application period is opened. The Clean Energy Infrastructure Funding 
Opportunity eXCHANGE is located at https://infrastructure-exchange.energy.gov/.
    A public webinar will be held in the weeks following the release of 
the guidance and 2023 solicitation to provide clarity on the guidance 
document, as necessary. The webinar will be held in a question and 
answer format with registration details available at https://www.energy.gov/gdo/section-243-hydroelectric-efficiency-improvement-incentives-program in the near future.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on February 6, 
2023, by Maria Duaime Robinson, Director of the Grid Deployment Office, 
pursuant to delegated authority from the Secretary of Energy. That 
document with the original signature and date is

[[Page 8838]]

maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in compliance 
with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the 
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to 
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as 
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative 
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon 
publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC on February 7, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-02854 Filed 2-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P