DOE opens up to $100 million opportunity for regional school energy hubs

The U.S. Department of Energy opened a new opportunity offering up to $100 million to build regional support hubs for public-school energy projects. Announced Oct. 27 under the Renew America’s Schools program, A+STEPS is designed to help districts lower operating costs, improve the reliability of essential building systems and prepare facility work for financing and implementation. The opportunity is for organizations that will form and run the hubs; it is not a direct grant application for an individual school district. DOE says district and partner applications will come later, after hubs have been selected and onboarded.

The selected hubs are expected to provide investment-grade energy audits, strategic energy plans, limited early improvements, technical assistance and training. DOE caps those early improvements at $250,000 for each participating local education agency. The hubs are intended to connect schools with engineering and energy-audit organizations, universities, state energy and education agencies, utilities, public finance providers, workforce boards and technical colleges. DOE says the mix can include coalitions rather than a single type of applicant, reflecting the range of expertise needed to diagnose building systems and turn plans into projects.

DOE anticipates selecting four to eight regional hubs, with awards of $2 million to $5 million per funding round. The program page says the hubs would train school facility staff, coordinate technical providers and give districts tools and data. Regional reach is an explicit part of the design: applicants should demonstrate that they can serve districts across varied technical and socioeconomic circumstances. The department also lists project-development capability and sound financial and risk controls among the qualifications. The page does not specify the eventual number of participating districts, schools or building improvements, so those outcomes remain dependent on the proposals and later selections.

The competition has two stages. Organizations may express interest in joining a regional hub and use a teaming list to find partners. DOE expects applications for hub awards to open in November 2026, with submissions due Jan. 15, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern. Selection notifications are anticipated in April 2027. Only after the regional hubs are selected does DOE expect to open a separate process for local education agencies and eligible partners to seek support; that stage is currently projected for spring or summer 2027, with selections anticipated in fall. DOE says an informational webinar date will be posted after the hub application opens.

A+STEPS is being managed through a partnership intermediary agreement between DOE and EnergyWerx. The intermediary arrangement is meant to broaden the department’s engagement with nontraditional partners, while the regional hubs are expected to organize technical and implementation support close to schools. The structure places an intermediary and regional organizations between the federal program and school districts: first, hub applicants assemble regional teams; later, selected hubs can help LEAs shape project proposals. That sequencing matters for districts that need audits and project planning before they can seek capital for upgrades.

DOE describes the initiative as a route from energy planning to practical improvements in school facilities. Its design combines relatively small early works with larger projects that could require financing, and connects facility staff to technical and workforce partners. The program page does not promise a particular reduction in energy bills, emissions or equipment failures, and it does not name winning hubs or participating districts. The Oct. 27 release is an opportunity announcement, with the first competitive decisions still months away. For school systems, the immediate next step is to track the November opening and determine whether a local or regional partner can join a qualifying hub application.