Registration FAQs

What is required to register in the Energy Program Information Center?

Depending on the type of account you are registering for, the following requirements must be met 
before registering:

• • If you are registering as part of Industry, Academia, a Non-Profit, or Federal/State/Local Government, your organization will need to have an active SAM.gov account with an assigned SAM.gov Unique Entity ID (UEI) and an assigned Electronic Business Point of Contact (EBiz POC) who will act as your Authorizing Organizational Representative (AOR) to grant account access in the Energy Program Information Center.
  • If you are registering as part of a DOE Federally Funded Research and Development Center (DOE FFRDC), your AOR will need to be registered in the system to approve your account.
  • If you are registering as an Individual (i.e. not affiliated with an organization), then your account will automatically be approved once you register in the Energy Program Information Center.

After the above requirements are met, you will need to register. To access the Energy Program Information Center, potential applicants will be required to have a Login.gov account. The registration process will direct you to create this account. Important: Your email address for Login.gov must match the email address you use for the Energy Program Information Center. 

What is a login.gov account?

Login.gov is a secure sign-in service that allows you to access various government agencies with a single username and password. This simplifies your access and eliminates the need for multiple credentials.

To create a Login.gov account, go to: https://login.gov/create-an-account/

If I have a login.gov account, can I use my login.gov account to register in the Energy Program Information Center?

Yes. If you already have a Login.gov account, you can use its authentication to register in the Energy Program Information Center.

Note: Please remember that if you are affiliated with an Industry, Academia, Non-Profit, Federal/State/Local Government, your organization will need to have an active SAM.gov account with an assigned SAM.gov Unique Entity ID (UEI) and an assigned Government Business Point of Contact (POC), Alternate Government Business POC, Past Performance POC, Alternate Past Performance POC, Electronic Business POC, or Alternate Electronic Business POC who will 
act as your Authorizing Organizational Representative (AOR) to grant account access in the Energy Program Information Center.

What is an account affiliation? 

When you register, you select an affiliation that describes your relationship with an organization or your status as an individual.

Industry, Academia, Non-Profit, Federal/State/Local Government affiliation should be selected if you work for a commercial or government organization not associated with the Department of Energy (DOE) (e.g., Department of Transportation, IBM, George Mason University). Your organization must be registered in SAM.gov. If your organization is already registered, verify that its SAM.gov information is current, including having a Unique Entity ID (UEI). Upon your registration, your organization's Government Business POC (or an alternate), Past Performance POC (or an alternate), or Electronic Business POC (or an alternate) will be automatically approved based on SAM.gov data. They will then act as an AOR and approve roles within your organization. 

DOE Federally Funded Research and Development Center (DOE FFRDC) affiliation should be selected if you are associated with one of the DOE National Labs (e.g., Ames Laboratory, Livermore National Laboratory). If you are a National Energy Technology Laboratory user applying for applications, you also use this affiliation.

Individual affiliation should be selected if you are not affiliated with an organization, such an individual researcher. You do not need account approvals. However, you should have information for your Technical and Business POCs, and any other person who prepares, reviews, or submits applications for CMEI funding opportunities.

Which affiliation will a large for-profit user select?

For-profit users select 'Industry, Academia, Non-Profit, Federal/State/Local Government' as their account affiliation.

Which affiliation will a recognized tribe use?

Tribes, which typically have a UEI number and are registered in SAM.gov, should select the 'Industry, Academia, Non-Profit, Federal/State/Local Government' affiliation.

Please clarify Independent Principal Investigator, are they not associated with an organization?

An Independent Principal Investigator (PI) registers as an Individual in the Energy Program Information Center because they are not affiliated with an organization.

If a PI wants to submit their own applications, should they be a technical point of contact or an account administrator? 

Unless you need to manage and approve user accounts, you should be assigned as either a Business POC or a Technical POC.

• • Technical POCs: Typically direct/lead the proposed project and serve as the PI/Lead Lab POC on the application.
  • Business POCs: Typically handle the administrative aspects of an application.

Both roles can create, edit, and submit applications. Refer to the Role Permission Matrix for more details.

What about financial representatives for divisions, or small companies where the AA and technical POC are the same? 

The Account Administrator (AA) role is for managing and approving user accounts. Unless you need this capability, register as either a Business POC or a Technical POC.

• • Technical POCs: Typically direct/lead the proposed project and serve as the PI/Lead Lab POC on the application.
  • Business POCs: Typically handle the administrative aspects of an application.

Both roles can create, edit, and submit applications. Refer to the Role Permission Matrix for more details.

How do I know if my organization is registered in grants.gov?

Contact the grants.gov support team at 1-800-518-4726 (Domestic), 1-606-545-5035 (International), or at support@grants.gov. Provide them with your organization's name and UEI number, and they will verify your registration. Please note that registering in grants.gov is not part of the Energy Program Information Center process.

How do I know if my AOR has registered my organization in the Energy Program Information Center?

If your account is not approved promptly, it likely means your AOR has not registered. For further confirmation, contact the Energy Program Information Center Help Desk at EPIC Help Center

Can a user select more than one organization populated from sam.gov that shows up in the system when registering?

During initial registration, you can only select one organization from the drop-down menu. After your registration is approved, you can request additional roles from other organizations within the Energy Program Information Center.

Do all users need to be registered in sam.gov to use the system?

No. Only users affiliated with Industry, Academia, Non-Profit, or Government need to be registered in SAM.gov.