Prize for Resilient Grid Innovation

The Digitizing Utilities Prize Round 3: Resilient Grid Innovation is a $2.4 million funding initiative led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity (DOE OE). Administered through the American-Made Program and facilitated by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), this prize aims to address the challenges electric utilities face in transitioning to more resilient, data-driven, and digitally integrated grid systems. Following the success of two previous rounds, Round 3 builds upon established frameworks to foster collaborations between utilities and interdisciplinary teams that include software developers, data scientists, and decision-making experts. The core objective of this competition is to catalyze innovation that enhances the capacity of utilities to process, analyze, and act upon vast and complex datasets. These datasets stem from fast-evolving sources such as phasor measurement units, weather sensors, and other environmental data inputs. The competition encourages utilities to explore and implement advanced data analytics, automation, and risk-informed decision-making strategies to modernize their grid operations. The long-term vision is to equip utilities with tools to better manage disruptions, integrate diverse energy resources, and ensure system reliability. To be eligible for the competition, teams must include or partner with a U.S.-based energy sector entity. Acceptable partners include rural electric cooperatives, municipal utilities, investor-owned utilities, regional transmission organizations, electric aggregators, and other grid-operating entities. Non-utility applicants, such as data experts and software developers, are required to demonstrate a formal partnership with an energy sector entity that has relevant operational data and a clear challenge statement. The competition is open to private companies, nonprofits, academic institutions, and nonfederal governmental entities such as states and tribes. The competition consists of two main phases. In Phase 1 (Plan), up to 16 teams will be awarded $75,000 each for identifying a compelling utility challenge and proposing a data-informed solution. Teams advancing to Phase 2 (Progress) will receive $150,000 in cash and a $75,000 voucher to refine and demonstrate their solution in partnership with their utility partner. Additional bonus prizes are available in Phase 2, including the $50,000 Impact with Public Research Data Bonus Prize and the $50,000 Federated Grid Data Security Bonus Prize. These incentives reward teams for contributing open-access datasets and developing secure, federated data-sharing solutions, respectively. The application window opened on January 15, 2025, and the deadline for Phase 1 submissions is April 9, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern Time. Judging for Phase 1 is expected to occur between April 14 and May 1, with winners announced by June 2, 2026. Phase 2 will begin on June 3, 2026, for selected Phase 1 winners, with a final submission deadline on December 3, 2026. A Virtual Demo Day is scheduled for December 16, followed by the final judging and announcement of winners on February 4, 2027. The competition is hosted on the HeroX platform, where teams must register and submit their materials. Applications must include documentation that demonstrates access to relevant data, the scope of the proposed solution, and the capacity of the team to execute their project. Competitors must also post a public-facing video explaining their solution and its impact. All submissions must be in English, and required file uploads must be in PDF format. Questions can be directed to digitizingutilitiesprize@nlr.gov, and updates are regularly posted on the HeroX challenge page. No restrictions are placed on how the cash awards may be spent by the winners.