DTE "E" Challenge Competition Deadline-June 29

SOUTHFIELD -- There are just three weeks left for Michigan companies to enter the DTE Energy's "E" Challenge for Innovation in Energy Efficiency. The deadline for submissions is June 29.

The program, which was launched at The Engineering Society of Detroit/DTE Energy Conference on May 2, recognizes and supports scientific excellence and technology innovation in search of energy efficient improvements for commercial and light industrial DTE customers.

DTE Energy is looking for innovators with an outstanding energy efficiency product that will have a major impact on energy savings and will be able to prove its success through this program and continue to promote energy savings now and into the future.

Initial entries will be pre-qualified for a second phase of judging. Once the second round of judging is complete, up to $250,000 will be awarded to one or more successful applicants to create the demonstration for their innovation. Submissions will be audited throughout the demonstration process.

DTE Energy reserves the right to award more than one entrant or to award no entrant. Upon completion of the demonstration period, November 2012–April 2013, the winning project will be determined, and the winner will be announced at the May 2013 DTE/ESD Energy Conference.

Eligibility Requirements:

* The product must show energy savings and save electrical or natural gas energy.
* The submission must include, in their documentation, proof of concept with supporting data.
* Prospective measures that have been, or are currently, "rebate qualified" for DTE may not be considered for this challenge.
* Light bulb technologies cannot be considered for this challenge.
* The product can apply to light industrial or commercial use.
* The company can be located anywhere but the demonstration site must be in DTE service territory and DTE must consent to the final site selection.
* The innovation should be a new technology or an existing technology applied in a different way.
* The innovation cannot be a battery pack. Strategies that would not be considered include but are not limited to renewables, energy storage technology, load diversity shifts, distributed generation, or fuel switching.

For more details on submission information or to download the competition brochure, visit www.esd.org.