Sustainable Development Fund
Grants
TRF’s Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) offers a limited number of sustainable energy grants for business or organizations working or planning to work in the PECO Energy service territory.
The following are the available grant categories:
Key Grant Documents:
- Sustainable Energy Business Planning Grants. Available to businesses located (or willing to locate) in the PECO service territory that design, manufacture, sell, install, operate or service renewable energy or energy efficiency products, technologies or services. The Sustainable Energy Business Planning Grants are available for securing outside expertise in developing and preparing a business plan that the business can use for guiding future growth, securing additional financing for new sustainable energy business or for expansion of existing activities.
- Sustainable Energy Demonstration Grants. Available to businesses located (or willing to locate) in the PECO service territory that design, manufacture, sell, install, operate or service renewable energy or energy efficiency products, technologies or services. The Sustainable Energy Deployment Grants are available to support the initial sales to customers of new sustainable energy products, technologies and services in the region that are not already widely available on a commercial basis.
- Sustainable Energy Grants for Facilities with Compelling Educational Impact. Available to nonprofit organizations for the installation of renewable energy systems (solar photovoltaic systems, solar hot water systems, wind energy systems, geothermal systems or biomass energy systems) and advanced energy efficiency, conservation and control measures in their non-residential facilities provided: (1) the Applicant’s facility is open to the public and has more than 100 visitors per month; (2) the Applicant’s mission in the facility encompasses public education about energy and environmental issues and the installation will be included in the Applicant’s interpretative program; and (3) the Applicant has already secured the remaining funded it needs for the project.
- Other Grants. SDF reserves the right to accept grant proposals for work of compelling interest and value that strongly advances SDF’s mission of promoting renewable energy, energy conservation and sustainable energy businesses in the region.
Activitites Ineligible for Core Grants
Core grant applications will not be entertained for the following categories of projects:
- Projects located outside of the PECO service territory.
- Energy measures and systems in individual residential buildings.
- Energy measures and systems in non-residential buildings that do not meet the requirements of Energy System Grants for Facilities with Compelling Educational Impact.
Grant Amounts
The dollar size of a core grant is flexible, but will exceed $25,000 only in very compelling and rare cases.
Grant funds are available for up to 75% of the costs of the project, with a minimum of 25% of the project costs being provided by the applicant. The average grant amount and the percentage of matching share are suggested values that may be modified by SDF in special instances.
For business planning grants, an additional guideline is that no more than 40% of the grant award may go to cover time and services from the Applicant’s staff.
Application Process
Applicants are to apply for a grant using the SDF Core Grant Program Application Form. Please consult the Core Grant Program Application Form Instructions for advice about completing the application form. In addition to the Application Form, an Applicant may submit other documents or materials that will help SDF understand the proposed project.
The
February 15
May 15
August 15
November 15
Applications not received by the deadline will be considered in the following calendar quarter.
Applicants are to electronically submit the Microsoft Word® file of the Grant Application Form and any supplemental materials in PDF files to:
The receipt date of that email will be considered the delivery date of the application.
In addition to the email submission in (d), Applicants must submit a signed original of the completed SDF Grant Application Form to:
Grant Proposal
TRF Sustainable Development Fund
718 Arch Street, Suite 300 North
Philadelphia, PA 19106-1591
Application Review and Approval
Applications will be reviewed by the SDF staff and by the SDF Grant Committee of the SDF board. As part of the due diligence review of Applications, SDF staff may request a meeting with the Applicant, submit questions to be answered by the Applicant or request additional information or materials about the proposed project.
Applicants may request a meeting with SDF staff to discuss their proposal.
SDF will make every attempt to complete its review of each Application in time for it to be considered at the SDF board meeting immediately following each deadline. If this is not possible, the Applicant will be informed by SDF staff and the Application considered at the subsequent meeting of the SDF board.
The SDF board has discretion over the approval of grant Applications, based on the merits of the Application, the strength and capacity of the Applicant, the relative merits of the competing Applications and the annual core grant program budget. Each Application will be evaluated in light of the following questions:
- How well does the proposed work fit the mission of the SDF?
- How likely is the Applicant to successfully complete the proposed work?
- How much financial commitment does the Applicant have to the project?
- To what extent will the proposed work have value beyond its value to the Applicant?
- How likely is the proposed project to generate additional financing opportunities for SDF?
The decision of the SDF board will be communicated by SDF staff by email to the Applicant within three business days of the board meeting. If an Application has been denied, the email will address the reasons for the denial.
The decision of the SDF board is final. An Applicant may submit a written request for reconsideration within 20 calendar days of the SDF staff email notice of the grant decision. A grant decision will be reconsidered only if there is new or changed material information that could not have been reasonably presented with the Application.
Negotiation and Execution of the Grant Agreement
Approval of an Application by the SDF Board is merely authorization for
Questions? For questions about SDF’s core grant program, please contact Roger Clark of the TRF Sustainable Development Fund at 215.574.5814 or roger.clark@trfund.com.