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1 1 (March 22, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govectq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ressionM Research $erviet~ .d~miri~ tha ~~kIat~ wJ~ N 9 March 22, 2021 Indian Energy Programs at the Department of Energy Indian energy programs at the DepartmentofEnergy (DOE) are carried out by the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (IE) and the Loan Programs Office (LPO). IE funds a variety of activities that assist Indian tribes and Alaska Native villages with energy development, energy- related capacity building, reductionofenergy costs, and electrification oftriballands andhomes. LPO provides loan guarantees to Indiantribes for energy development. An overview of IE and LPO and each pro gram's legislative and administrative history is provided below. Indian Energy Program Section 2606 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 (P.L. 102- 486, EPACT 1992) authorized DOEto grant financial assistance to Indian tribal governments. Through legislative and administrative action, the programhas changed over time. IE provides fmancial assistance and technical assistance to address barriers to deployment of energy generation and energy efficiency projects on tribal lands.IE funding for FY2021 totaled $22 million (P.L. 116-260), with $17 million recommended for financial and technical assistance. Tribes and Alaska Native villages may be eligible for funding through other DOEprograms as well. Financiai Ass istance Financial As sis tance constitutes IE's primary form of s upport for energy technology deployment on tribal lands. Financial As sis tance is av ailable for the follo wing types of energy technology projects: * energy generating systems andenergy efficiency measures for tribal buildings; * community -scale energy generating systems or energy storage on triballands; * integrated energy systems independent of thecentralikd electric power grid; and * energy infras tructure or integrated energy s ystems to electrify tribal buildings. Accordingto IE's FY2020 funding opportunity announcement, the selection ofprojects is fueland technology neutral andrequires at least a 50% nonfederal cost share in most cases. From2010 through 2019, IE reports its fmancial assistance totaled nearly $85 million for more than 180 tribal energy projects, plus cost-shares by grant recipients totaling over $95 million. Technical Assistance IE technical assistance is intended to help overcome obstacles or fulfill needs in developing and implementing tribal energy projects. According to IE, Current projects funded by DOEgrants receive highest priority. Priority will also be given to tribes that havepreviously submitted grant applications, but have not yet received awards. Types of technical assistance provided by IEinclude education and outreach, technical analysis, financial analysis, and strategic energy planning for tribal energyprojects. Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program Section 503 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-58, EPACT 2005), among other provisions, authorized DOEto guarantee up to 90% of loans (including principal and interest) made to an Indiantribe or a tribalenergy development organization for energy development. Aggregate outstanding guaranteed loans cannot exceed $2 billion at any time. As with all federalcredit programs, loans guaranteed under this programare statutorily requiied to pay a subsidy cost (a share of estimatedprogram-wide losses) prior to finalizing the loan guarantee agreement. Subsidy costs canbe paid through appropriations, by the applicant, or a combination thereof. Congress provided funding to theprogramin FY2017 including $8.5 million to be available for loan guarantee subsidy costs. DOEfirst is sued a solicitation for the Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee Program(TELGP) in 2018, and DOE issued an amended solicitation in January 2020, with initial submissions due by March 2022. At the time of publication, no loan guarantees have beenis sued under this program. (For more details, see CRS CRS Insight IN1 1452, Department ofEnergy Loan Programs: Tribal Energy Loan Guarantee.) Legislative History Section 2606 of the EPACT 1992 authorized DOEto grant financial assistance to Indian tribalgovernments for projects that evaluate or adopt energy efficiency and renewable energy projects on Indianreservations. Sections 502 and 503 of EPACT 2005 established IEwithin DOE. In addition, EPACT 2005 broadened the DOEtribal financial assistance programto a wider range of energy projects. This included a grant programto as sist tribes in meeting energy-related needs, authorizing appropriations of $20 million annually for FY2006 through FY2016. The Energy Act of 2020 (Division Z of P.L. 116-260) reauthorized this programfor $30 million annually for FY2021 throughFY2025. In the 115 Congress, the Indian Tribal Energy Development and Self-Determination Act Amendments of 2017 (P.L. 115-325) made several adjustments to DOE's Indian energy programs, including the following changes: expanding eligibility for DOE's tribal energy grant programto include intertrib al organizations; https://crs rept

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