Following a successful Round 1, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Electricity launched Round 2 of the $2.15 million Digitizing Utilities Prize, with support from DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response. This prize connects utilities with interdisciplinary teams of software developers and data experts to transform digital systems and data analytics for utilities in the energy sector.
The electricity sector is facing an “explosion” of data coming from a variety of sources.
Recent advances in sensor technologies allow utilities to access fast-streaming data sets, challenging traditional methods of data acquisition, use, and storage. To fully utilize the massive influx of data from these sensors, the electricity sector must undergo a transformation in how it manages data quality, storage, and processing.
The Digitizing Utilities Prize supports competitors as they develop innovative solutions to transform data analytics and system digitization for utilities, such as energy use data, synchrophasor data, weather data, fire assessment data, and more. In Round 2, innovators have the option to focus specifically on addressing cybersecurity threats and risks through demonstrated improvements in risk identification, analysis, prediction, or proactive response for enhanced protection of digital energy infrastructures.
Through this prize, teams will identify a utility partner facing a digitization, data, or cybersecurity challenge and propose a solution for solving it. Proposed challenges and solutions must have an implementation path within the utility partner. Topics can include, but are not limited to:
Addressing data quality, interoperability, and processing at the source of data generation within a utility
Increasing a utility’s resilience to cyberattacks
Integrating data sets across different sources, including both inside and outside a utility
Developing data analytic systems to improve resilience and system operation, including predicting asset health and maintenance needs
Utilizing energy data to improve energy equity efforts within a utility
Developing data analytic systems to address wildfires, earthquakes, storms, and other natural hazards
Providing better data visualization and informational displays as well as enhanced user experience to operators and engineers at utilities
Improving a utility’s ability to evaluate and integrate new software tools
Automating menial operational and analytical tasks within utilities in a transparent manner
Making operational data available for use within utilities while maintaining security
Automating data anonymization and data set creation for secure sharing with outside researchers and third parties.
For the Digitizing Utilities Prize Round 2, DOE has a specific interest in problems and solutions around cybersecurity, including mitigating the most significant cybersecurity threats and risks to U.S. critical infrastructure.
Competitor Tracks
This prize invites competitors to propose software solutions meet challenges in one or both competitor tracks:
Track 1: Utility Digitization/Data Challenge
Track 2: Utility Cybersecurity Challenge
Competitors must identify whether the solution applies to Track 1, Track 2, or both within the application. Applicants who choose to compete in both Track 1 and Track 2 are eligible to receive prizes from both tracks.
Phases and Prize Amounts
This competition has two phases—Plan and Progress—to drive accelerated development of the most promising ideas.
Phase 1 – Plan
Competitors will connect with a utility partner, identify a data and/or cybersecurity challenge, and propose a solution to that problem. Teams will then demonstrate a thorough understanding of the problem, as well as their ability to access relevant resources that can be leveraged for this prize.
Track
# of Winners
Prize Amount
Track 1: Utility Digitization/Data Challenge
Up to 9
$75,000 cash prize each
Track 2: Utility Cybersecurity Challenge
Up to 2
$175,000 cash prize each
For more information on Phase 1 and the required submission materials, please review the Official Rules. Any questions unanswered in the rules document can be asked during the prize’s upcoming webinar or raised in the Forum Tab, where a prize administrator will publicly respond.
Phase 2 – Progress
Competitors will work side-by-side with their selected utility partner on their presented issue for 6 months to develop and refine a software solution that addresses the issues that the utilities are dealing with. At the end of Phase 2, teams will present their progress toward implementing their solution.
Track
# of Winners
Prize Amount
Track 1: Utility Digitization/Data Challenge
Up to 3
$200,000 cash prize each
$75,000 voucher each
Track 2: Utility Cybersecurity Challenge
Up to 1
$300,000 cash prize
Competitor Eligibility
The competition is open only to private entities (for-profits and nonprofits); nonfederal government entities such as states, counties, tribes, and municipalities; academic institutions; and individuals, subject to the requirements in the Official Rules.
Past competitors of the Digitizing Utilities Prize Round 1 are encouraged to reapply with updated submission materials; however, teams who won any phase of Round 1 are discouraged from submitting the same or similar idea to this round or any future round of the prize.
Form a Winning Team
Whether you’re a single applicant searching for a utility partner or a utility team seeking a teammate with a particular skillset, our prize partners can help you search for the right fit. Learn more during a 30-minute conversation with prize partner, yet2.
Disclaimer
Note the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is evaluating all funding opportunities, including prize challenges, to ensure appropriate resources are allocated efficiently, and that the Department's initiatives are in line with the statutory mission of DOE and the policies and priorities of the Administration and DOE. DOE is undertaking this evaluation in accordance with all laws, regulations, and fiscal responsibility, as efficiently as possible.
In December 2024, the Office of Electricity hosted its inaugural virtual Demo Day, where Phase 2 competitors of the Digitizing Utilities Prize Round 2 were invited to pitch their innovative progress and gave viewers an inside look at each team’s approach to solving data and cybersecurity challenges for their utility partners.
The following Phase 2 teams were named winners and awarded cash prizes for their efforts during Demo Day and the final phase of this $2.15 million competition.
Track 1: Utility Digitization/Data Challenge Winners ($200,000 cash prize and a $75,000 technical voucher to a national laboratory per winner)
Grid Elevated (Salt Lake City, UT)
Team Simple Thread (Richmond, VA)
Enterprise Graph DB Team (Birmingham, AL)
Track 2: Utility Cybersecurity Challenge Winner ($300,000 per winner)
Fend Incorporated (Arlington, VA)
The U.S Department of Energy’s Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response Office provided funding for the Track 2 winner.
Congratulations to the Phase 2 winning teams, and thank you to all the teams that participated in the prize. We encourage all Round 2 applicants to follow Round 3 of the Digitizing Utilities Prize on HeroX to learn more about new funding opportunities from the Office of Electricity.
Congratulations to all Phase 2 competitors who presented at Demo Day last week! The event covered presentations from all competing teams in both tracks of the prize and included a live Q&A from our panel of judges. Stream the recording any time.
Stay tuned for more information about Round 2 Phase 2 winners in the new year. Plus, don’t forget that the Office of Electricity wants to hear your feedback on the direction and areas of focus for the Digitizing Utilities Prize Round 3 by Dec. 19. Submit your ideas here!
Distributed resource integration and decision-making under uncertainty
Sensors and/or analytics testing and validation of use cases utilizing public data, demonstration, and potentially the Grid Event Signature Library.
The team is also seeking industry challenges specific to utilities and/or regulators to the prize topic areas in which outside entities are likely able to address as they relate to grid data analytics, digitization efforts, and interconnection with distributed energy resources (DERs), such as:
Photovoltaics
Wind
Hydropower
Energy storage
Any combination of the above (and others!).
If you’re interested in providing your thoughts on the above topics, we encourage you to read more about Round 3 and submit your feedback by Dec. 19. Additional details, such as prize amounts and submission materials, will be shared in 2025.
TOMORROW, Nov. 14, is the submission deadline for Round 2 Phase 2 of the Digitizing Utilities Prize. The prize administrators highly recommend uploading all materials ahead of the 5 p.m. ET deadline to avoid any potential delays or technical difficulties. We will not accept late submissions.
Competitors should be working with their utility partner to develop and refine their identified solutions from Phase 1.
All teams, regardless of track, are also required to participate in the Virtual Demo Day on December 10th. A finalized and complete schedule will be released roughly 30 days prior to the event.
Competitors are encouraged to review the latest version of the Official Rules, found under the Resources tab in HeroX.
The Progress Phase webinar recording and slide deck can be found under the Resources tab.
Reminders for Competitors in the Utility Digitization/Data Challenge Track:
Competitors should review the new Progress Phase narrative question regarding your plans for a national laboratory voucher.
Competitors are encouraged to review the Voucher Guidelines, which can also be found under the Resources tab.
