Host Institutions

• Electric cooperatives
• Grid operators (e.g., independent system operators and regional transmission organizations)
• Municipal utilities
• Public utility commission
• State energy offices
• Tribal entities defined below:
  • Indian Tribes (as defined in 25 U.S.C. § 5304), including any Alaska Native village, any Alaska Native village or regional corporations, and any Tribal organizations (also defined in 25 U.S.C. § 5304) such as energy related offices and utilities operating within or chartered through Indian Tribes.
  • Non-profit Regional Intertribal Organizations comprised of two or more federally recognized Indian Tribes, established under congressional, state, or Tribal law to act on behalf of the participating Indian Tribes. This includes, but is not limited to intertribal councils, regional Tribal organizations or associations, Alaska regional development organizations, and Tribal federations.
  • Tribal energy development organizations (TEDO, as defined in 25 U.S.C. 3501), such as enterprises, partnerships, consortiums, corporations, or other type of business organizations that are engaged in the development of energy resources and are wholly owned by an Indian Tribe.

Non-profits, universities, or privately owned businesses are ineligible to apply as Host Institutions of this class.

Projects should be focused on the following topics:

• Energy Development/ (e.g., energy efficiency, innovative financing, interconnection, modeling, renewable energy permitting and siting)
• Distributed Energy Resources (e.g., adoption, integration, inverter-based resources, microgrids)
• Electrification and Load Growth (e.g., buildings, industry, transportation, load forecasting)
• Energy Affordability and Access (e.g., program benefits analysis, stakeholder engagement, workforce development)
• Grid Resilience and Energy Security Planning (e.g., essential grid services, investment prioritization and valuation, metrics development, risk or hazard analysis)
• System Planning (e.g., advanced rate design, consumer protection, interconnection, regulatory structures, modeling)
• Tribal Energy (e.g., Tribal energy development and deployment, Tribal electrification, Tribal energy sovereignty, Tribal utility development, Tribal workforce development, Tribe-utility engagement)

When developing a project and EIF application, Host Institutions should be aware that Fellows may not participate in or support pre-award funding activities (e.g., technical assistance, researching, grant writing, applying, and other activities related to funding opportunities). This restriction applies to any source of funding.

Merit Review Criteria

• Degree to which the proposed project aligns with the mission and program priorities of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the Grid Deployment Office (GDO), Office of State and Community Energy Programs (SCEP), and the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (IE) (see next section).
• Degree to which there is strong potential for impact from a completed project.
• Degree to which the Host Institution staff demonstrates willingness to make the time commitment to be a meaningful Mentor.

Additionally, the following criteria will be applied to Tribal entity hosts:

• Demonstrated opportunities for hosted Fellows to gain hands-on experience addressing one of the following:
  • Navigating the development of Tribal initiated energy projects, including project development, project finance, and partnership development.
  • Engaging with outside developers and with federal agencies on matters related to energy projects.
  • Engaging with communities that have experienced significant job loss due to the transition away from fossil fuels.
  • Degree to which the Indian Tribe(s) is impacted by Energy Burden. To learn more, see FAQ section.

Program Priorities

The following factors will be considered and may influence the selection of Host Institutions:

• Diversity of Host Institutions (range of organizational types, sizes, and geographies, and past participation)
• EERE programmatic areas (energy efficiency, renewable power, and sustainable transportation),
• GDO programmatic areas (essential grid services, grid resilience formula grant implementation, grid resilience metric development),
• IE programmatic areas (Tribal entities that are: initiating clean energy development on Tribal lands, engaging with outside clean energy development, managing a transition away from fossil fuels), and
• State Energy Program programmatic areas (catalyze local economic development and create jobs, reduce energy costs, avoid pollution through place-based strategies, while centering the needs of low-income, disadvantaged, and energy-burdened communities).

The deadline for Host Institutions applications is January 31, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. EST/8:59 p.m. PST. Late applications will not be accepted.

Applications can be saved and continued before the application closing date. If saving to continue later, be sure to follow the instructions provided. Each application must be completed and submitted, with an email confirmation received, before starting a new application. For more information about hosting more than one Fellow, refer to the FAQ.

A webinar will be held on January 8, 2025, at 3 p.m. EST/12 p.m. PST that will provide information about the Host Institution application and the overall process outlined in the Important Dates section. To register for the webinar, click here.

Preview the application questions

Submit your application

• What is a Host Institution? Who is eligible to be a Host Institution? What is a Host Institution Mentor?

  • Eligible Host Institutions include electric public utility commissions in the United States and U.S. territories, electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, grid operators, state energy offices, Indian Tribes (as defined in 25 U.S.C. § 5304) and any Non-profit Regional Intertribal Organization (defined as any organization comprised of two or more Indian Tribes, established under congressional, state, or Tribal law to act on behalf of the participating Indian Tribes, including but not limited to, intertribal councils, regional tribal organizations or associations, Alaska regional development organizations, and tribal federations). Energy related offices and utilities chartered through an Indian Tribe will be considered eligible.
  • This fellowship program is seeking Host Institutions with projects that require innovative approaches to advance the energy transition, to host participants in the Energy Innovator Fellowship program, for up to two years.
  • The staff member of the Host Institution that would guide the Fellow's progress on the proposed project is considered the Mentor and is expected to play a mentoring role. The Mentor is also the point of contact for the Host Institution throughout the selection process, including interviews.
  • If your institution type is not listed in the “Who Should Apply” section, it is not eligible to apply. If you would like to be considered in the future, please contact DOE-RPP@orise.orau.gov.

• What makes a strong Host Institution application?

  EIF evaluates all Host Institution applications as follows:

  1. Alignment and relevancy of the application (30%)
     • Degree to which the application aligns with EIF’s program priorities including the educational growth potential for the Fellow.
  2. Quality and impact of the project (40%)
     • Degree to which the proposed project has a well-defined scope, clearly outlines the Fellow’s contribution to the project and its outcomes, and the overall strength of the plan to evaluate the success of the fellowship and project.
  3. Commitment to Mentorship (30%)
     • Degree to which the Mentor demonstrates commitment to the Fellow’s professional growth, time commitment to guide and interact with the Fellow, and the overall mentorship experience of the Mentor and Host Institution.

  Applications will be scored for each of three criteria outlined above on a scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree).

• How many Innovator Fellows can be placed at my Host Institution?

  • Eligible Host Institutions may host more than one Fellow.
  • Projects must be unique and distinct for each Fellow. 
  • Each project and Fellow must have a dedicated Mentor (i.e., a Host Institution cannot have one Mentor for two Fellows).
  • Host Institutions interested in hosting more than one Fellow must submit a separate application for each project. Applications must identify the uniqueness of the project. No Mentor can be listed on more than one application.
  • If the same Mentor is listed on separate applications, only the first application submitted will be considered.
  • Placement of one Fellow per Host Institution will be prioritized before placing multiple Fellows at the same Host Institution.

• How are the stipend payments provided to the Fellow?

  The Fellow’s stipend is paid monthly by ORISE. No EIF funds are directed through Host Institutions. 

• What is energy burden and where can data on Tribal energy burden be found?

  • Energy burden is the percent of household income that is spent on household energy.
  • The Energy Justice Mapping Toolis one tool that applicants can use to get data on energy burden; click on the relevant area(s) of the map, then click "Tract" on the left-hand side, then click "Full Report." The generated report will contain the energy burden for the area.
  • Applicants are encouraged to share the range and average of the national percentile over their applicable area. Applicants are welcome to provide alternative data or evidence of energy burden and explain their rationale for using such sources.

• Will I have any say in what Innovator Fellow is placed at my Host Institution?

  Yes. The matching process is based on mutual agreement. At the conclusion of Host Institution-candidate interviews, the host will select their preferred fellowship candidate. 

• Can Host Institutions and Fellow candidates have a pre-existing relationship?

  No. A pre-existing relationship refers to a Fellow candidate having a family member, significant other, friend, or similar person in a position at the Host Institution which could give rise to a conflict of interest and/or create the appearance of impropriety. If you have a question about whether a pre-existing relationship exists under particular circumstances, contact DOE-RPP@orise.orau.gov. 

• What resources are Host Institutions expected to provide for Innovator Fellows?

  Host Institutions are expected to provide the Fellow with standard resources, such as a Host Institution email address, computer and associated equipment, and a workstation if onsite.

  DOE, ORISE, or any affiliated organization does not conduct background, security, or drug screening.

  The Host Institution application provides additional information in the Requirements and Expectations section.