DOE’s Office of Electricity Reopens Beyond the Meter Prize with New Goals, Larger Prize Pool

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Electricity announced today the reopening of the Beyond the Meter Prize. This two-phase competition will accelerate advancements in integrating behind the meter (BTM) resources and energy storage systems (ESS), aiming to develop consumer-focused turnkey solutions while reducing transaction costs to enhance affordability.

Now offering a larger prize pool of $3.4 million in cash prizes and $800,000 in vouchers to work with a national laboratory, competitors are encouraged to form coalitions to demonstrate their existing products and strategic plans to integrate and manage consumer-focused technologies into behind the meter energy storage systems. Through collaboration with consumer-focused technology vendors, teams will develop solutions that maximize the value and flexibility of new, innovative energy resources for both consumers and the grid.

This prize aligns with OE’s Energy Storage Division’s broader mission to advance tools and methods to improve and simplify energy storage integration across all levels of the grid, including generation, transmission, distribution, and consumer applications. By focusing on technology-neutral solutions, the competition aims to identify scalable approaches for improving control, integration, and interoperability.

For this prize, applicants will choose to submit their solutions to either the Residential Solution Track or the Commercial/Industrial Track. For both tracks, the solutions must be fully integrated behind the meter before connecting or interacting with the grid. 

In Phase 1 of the competition, teams will present their products and outline strategic collaboration plans with customer-sited technology and product vendors. The winners of this phase will receive $50,000 each upon selection and an additional $200,000 each after highlighting their solutions at the OE Energy Storage Peer Review taking place in Summer 2026. Phase 1 winners are also eligible to receive a $100,000 voucher each to redeem at a single DOE national laboratory.

In Phase 2, winning teams from Phase 1 will refine their solutions and demonstrate a commercially ready product capable of seamless integration with customer-sited technologies including BTM ESS. At this stage, the top two winners will each be awarded $950,000 each upon presenting their advanced products and plans at the OE Energy Storage Peer Review set for Summer 2027. The Phase 2 winners will also be awarded an additional $100,000 voucher at the conclusion of the competition.

The Beyond the Meter Prize updated submission deadline is April 30, 2026. Learn more about this competition, including key dates, updates to the rules, and submission details on HeroX, the official prize platform. 

The American-Made program is your fast track to energy innovation. Powered by the U.S. Department of Energy and administered by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), American-Made transforms innovative ideas into real energy solutions through prizes, collegiate competitions, technical assistance vouchers, and opportunities to work with a network of experts. 

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