The $15 million Energizing Rural Communities Prize challenges individuals and organizations to develop partnership plans or innovative financing strategies to help rural or remote communities improve their energy systems and advance clean energy demonstration projects.
The application period for Phase 1 closes on May 24, 2023.
This prize is part of the $1 billion Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) Program, created by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED). The ERA Program supports projects that improve the resilience, reliability, safety, availability, and environmental performance of energy systems in rural or remote areas of the U.S. with populations of no more than 10,000 people.
Through workshops and community input, the ERA Program has found that two of the biggest barriers to improving energy systems in rural or remote areas are developing the necessary partnerships and securing financing.
The Energizing Rural Communities Prize has two tracks, both following a two-phase timeline:
The Partner track—with a $10 million cash prize pool—will support plans to connect rural or remote communities to government funding, technical assistance, or a network of partners that can help implement clean energy demonstration projects.
The Finance track—with a $5 million cash prize pool—will support plans to access capital or to develop community ownership models to help finance clean energy demonstration projects in rural or remote areas.
This prize is for entrepreneurs, university faculty and student groups, community organizations, tribal and local governments, financial institutions, industry professionals, and others with ideas to help organize or finance a clean energy demonstration project in a rural or remote area.
Challenge Guidelines
Please review the official rules for the complete application process and instructions for competing.
If you want to receive updates on the prize or have any questions, please subscribe by using the contact feature on the HeroX platform or message us directly at .
Please join us for a informational webinar on 3/21/23 - 11:00am MT/1:00pm ET. This one hour webinar will cover the basics of the Energizing Rural Communities Prize. Register here.
There are also two upcoming track-specific prizes:
4/5/23 - 2:00pm MT/4:00pm ET, This one hour webinar will dive deeper into the PARTNER Track. Register here.
4/6/23 - 11:00am MT/1:00pm ET, This one hour webinar will dive deeper into the FINANCE Track. Register here.
All webinars will offer an opportunity to ask questions, however you can also check the FAQ or ask your question on the forum.
Join the OCED and NREL prize administration team for an introductory webinar on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. MT. This webinar will cover high-level details about the prize goals, structure, timeline, and strategies for developing a successful application. We will also answer remaining questions about the prize and the application process.
This February, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) is launching the $15 million Energizing Rural Communities Prize. This prize challenges individuals and organizations to develop partnership plans or innovative financing strategies to help rural or remote communities improve their energy systems and advance clean energy demonstration projects.
This prize is part of OCED’s $1 billion Energy Improvements in Rural or Remote Areas (ERA) Program which was created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to demonstrate new ways to improve the resilience, reliability, safety, availability, and environmental performance of energy systems serving rural or remote areas with populations of no more than 10,000 people.
On Wednesday, Feb. 1 from 10am-2pm MST, OCED will host a virtual workshop to gather feedback from potential applicants, experts, and stakeholders to finalize the rules and evaluation process for this prize. The workshop will include an overview of the motivations and goals of the prize and detail the structure and award amounts for each track and phase of the prize.
