Shared Principles For Community Collaboration

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) and Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), in collaboration with its newly established Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA), called ENERGYWERX, will identify local organizations located in specific OCED project host communities interested in convening and leading logistics for multi-stakeholder engagement processes for federal projects.

This effort will assist selected energy demonstration project communities to engage with government and selected OCED project performers in a process to share their priorities and concerns across multiple workshops and forums. The selected organization(s) will be responsible for coordinating the event logistics and conducting engagement with local groups to support the process, which will be led and facilitated by a third-party entity identified by the Department of Energy. Activities may last up to a year and will include coordination with a range of groups –including third-party facilitators, local industry partners leading projects, local community groups, and Department of Energy officials – as well as event planning and relationship building with local groups.

The Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) and Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), in collaboration with its newly established Partnership Intermediary Agreement (PIA), called ENERGYWERX, seeks to identify local organizations located in OCED project host communities interested in convening and leading logistics for multi-stakeholder engagement processes for federal projects. Selected local organizations will have the skills, resources, and expertise in event planning and convening multi-stakeholder initiatives or civic engagement processes and serve as a trusted community entity.

OCED is committed to collaborative engagement between OCED, project performers, and host communities throughout the demonstration project lifecycle. For the recently selected Direct Air Capture demonstration projects, OCED plans to use an in-depth community engagement and collaboration process based on Shared Principles for Community Collaboration. ‘Shared Principles’ is a locally co-created framework that informs the engagement approach throughout an OCED-funded project lifecycle. This effort seeks to support the development of Shared Principles via a Participatory Technology Assessment (pTA) conducted by a third-party entity, by identifying local organizations that can support the coordination of event logistics and conduct engagement with local groups to support the pTA process.

In particular, the objective of this effort is to provide logistical and coordination support, including: drafting and sending event invitation lists and text, identifying event venues, attending events, providing light refreshments, paying participating honorariums, and managing childcare arrangements during specific Shared Principles events.

This effort advances OCED’s mission of delivering clean energy demonstration projects at scale in partnership with the private sector to accelerate deployment, market adoption, and the equitable transition to a decarbonized energy system.  

Selected organizations will dedicate a staff member(s) to support coordination, logistical planning, and engagement with local groups to support the Shared Principles pTA process.

• Organizations should be based in one of the two communities hosting designated OCED energy projects where the ‘Shared Principles’ engagement process will take place – Calcasieu Parish, LA and Kleberg County, TX. Organizations will have connections to diverse types of local stakeholder organizations with a wide range of interests and objectives, including the local chambers of commerce, environmental and/or environmental justice groups, advocacy groups, elected leaders, faith-based organizations, and other community-based groups.
• Organizations should commit to knowledge sharing with other selected performers, e.g., through regular calls and/or meetings. 
• The selected organization(s) will serve as the event logistics coordinator and collaborate, as appropriate and as approved, with other performers who have been selected to facilitate and lead the events and the OCED team so that there is communal learning from each other. 
• Selected organizations are responsible for verifying and meeting childcare standards and requisite licenses in compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. Selected organizations shall oversee all aspects of on-site childcare during Shared Principles event. Upon DOE approval, selected organizations may work with an approved sub-contracted entity to provide these services. In such a case, a sub-contracted organization will meet all childcare license and certification requirements and selected organizations will maintain oversight and responsibility over this service.

To be added to the teaming partner list click here: Childcare Facilities Teaming Partner List (wufoo.com)

To view the childcare teaming partner list, click here: Childcare Teaming Partner List | Wufoo‍

Password: shared (all lowercase)

How to Participate

• Review the General Overview and Objective: See Above
• Download the Capabilities Overview Template: Click Here to Download
• Complete the Submission Form & Upload Completed Template: Click Here to Submit (NLT November 17, 2023, 5:00 PM ET)

Phase 1– Submissions Open [October 16, 2023 to November 17, 2023]: Interested respondents must complete a submission form (for Government review only) no later than November 3, 2023, 5pm ET. Submitters must download, complete, and upload a Capabilities Overview (maximum of 2 pages). The list of criteria is listed on the Capabilities Overview Template, found at the bottom of this webpage.

Phase 2– Government Review and Down select [November 17, 2023 to December 1, 2023]: DOE will down select respondents/submissions with the highest likelihood of satisfying their needs. All respondents will receive a selection or non-selection notification o/a November 20, 2023.

Phase 3 – Path Forward [December 4, 2023 to December 14, 2023]: Subsequently, selectees will participate in a discussion with DOE SMEs to learn more about the scope of work determined by DOE. The intent is for selectees to receive a formal Business-to-Business (B2B) Research and Development Agreement (RDA) and Statement of Effort (SOE) as a sub-award (15 U.S. Code, Section 3715) from ENERGYWERX. However, after discussions with DOE, successfully negotiated awards may fall under (but are not limited to) alternate mechanism of awards/interactions with any combination of these categories:

• Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (15 U.S. Code, Section 3710a)
• OTA for research or prototype projects (10 U.S. Code Sections 4021, 4022): An award under 10 U. S. Code, Section 4022 may result in the further award of a follow-on production agreement without additional competition based on successful prototype completion. DOE may make this follow-on production award even if all successful prototype criteria are not fully met during the prototype project. 
• Procurement for experimental purposes (10 U.S. Code Section 4023) 
• Prizes for advanced technology achievements (10 U. S. Code Section 4025) and/or prize competitions (15 U.S. Code 3719)
• FAR-based procurement contract

Phase 4– Effort Underway [December 2023 to October 2024]: Throughout the work, DOE seeks that selected organizations work closely with the DOE team, including attending and coordinating logistics for events associated with the Shared Principles pTA process. This would be a highly collaborative, fast-paced engagement model. Materials would be created in partnership and conversation with DOE stakeholders – with additional research and analysis supplementing where needed. The goal would be to produce as much useful content in time for key DOE decision points as possible with the option to finalize work products after that date. In addition, DOE encourages (as needed) check-ins via email, when possible (info@energywerx.org), to provide feedback & guidance and share learnings and insights.

Deep technical subject matter expertise is not required as background. If your organization has an interest in participating in the workshops or forums stemming from this effort, we invite you to reach out expressing interest and abstain from applying to this opportunity. Any sub-recipient, sub-awardee, or current team member of the relevant DOE projects is ineligible to apply for this opportunity.

Complete the Submission Form & Upload Completed Template: Click Here to Submit (NLT November 17, 2023, 5:00 PM ET)

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact ENERGYWERX: info@energywerx.org

Note: Please submit one (1) form on behalf of your organization.