Georgetown prize aims to be 'Super Bowl of energy efficiency'

Energy efficiency is about to become a lot more lucrative for one U.S. city.

On April 23, a day after Earth Day, Georgetown University launched the Georgetown University Energy Prize, a two-year competition for communities across the country to test their energy-saving chops in pursuit of a $5 million purse.

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The Georgetown competition will rank cities based on the amount of electricity and natural gas saved from 2015 to 2017 in their residential and municipal buildings. Transportation and commercial sectors are excluded from the competition. The application process remains open through the end of June.

During the quarterfinal stage that follows, accepted communities will submit detailed, long-term energy savings plans. The field then whittles for the semifinal stage that officially opens the competition in January 2015. At that point, cities will begin calculating the energy they've saved, with the finalists asked at the beginning of 2017 to submit final performance reports and summaries of future plans. Judges will award winners that June.