Design the Future of Campus Energy in the Energy District Cup

New U.S. Department of Energy Collegiate Competition Invites Interdisciplinary Student Teams To Develop Practical Energy Solutions for College Campuses and Districts

Sept. 14, 2026 | By Karen Petersen | Contact media relations

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Could your next class project help solve a real energy challenge—and give you winning work to showcase to future employers?

If you answer the call to compete in the Energy District Cup, a new collegiate competition from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE's) Integrated Energy Systems Office, the answer is yes!

Administered by the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR), the competition gives interdisciplinary student teams the chance to develop comprehensive energy plans for college campuses or districts (the state or county-level governing bodies that manage public community colleges in some states).

Along with giving students the opportunity to build career-ready skills and produce the kind of tangible, high-impact work employers are seeking to advance the future of American energy innovation, the competition provides faculty with a flexible, plug-and-play project for a course, capstone, independent study, student club, or extracurricular activity.

Registration is now open for full-academic-year teams to enter the inaugural Energy District Cup. Interested students and faculty must register by Oct. 14, 2026. Teams do not need to have their rosters or project plans finalized to register.

Face Off To Focus on Real Campus Needs

College campuses function much like small cities. They include classrooms, laboratories, offices, residence halls, athletic facilities, and other buildings with distinct energy needs. Campus leaders must plan for these facilities to operate affordably and reliably while preparing for changing technologies, infrastructure needs, and institutional priorities.

In the Energy District Cup, students will step up and take on those challenges themselves. Participating teams will analyze the energy use of a college campus or district and propose a cost-effective combination of energy solutions tailored to the district’s needs. Based on the goals of their assigned or team-selected district, students may evaluate options such as:

Rather than focusing on a single technology, teams will consider how integrated energy solutions can work synergistically to advance the district’s goals. District Cup participants will gain hands-on experience using industry tools, working with real energy data, responding to stakeholder priorities, and communicating their recommendations to expert reviewers.

“The Energy District Cup challenges students to work through the kinds of complex, interdisciplinary decisions campus leaders and energy professionals face every day,” said Arielle Cardinal, NLR project co-lead for the competition. “Teams will need to understand their district’s needs, compare options, consider costs and trade-offs, and propose a practical path forward. That experience can help prepare them for careers across the energy sector.”

Long Game or Short Play—You Decide

Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, teams will build skills and experience in energy analysis, teamwork, project management, decision-making, and technical communication while learning how various academic fields contribute to planning and implementing successful energy projects.

To make the competition accessible to institutions with different academic calendars and levels of capacity, the Energy District Cup offers two participation options:

• Full Academic Year: Teams participating throughout the full academic year will develop a comprehensive energy plan for approximately five campus buildings. This option provides additional time for analysis, stakeholder engagement, and development of an integrated portfolio of recommendations.
• Single Semester: Teams seeking a more focused experience may choose to complete a streamlined version of the competition, evaluating approximately one to three buildings during the spring semester. Registration for single-semester teams will open in January 2027.

Both options allow students to work on a real-world planning challenge and present their recommendations to professionals with relevant technical and industry experience.

Analyze, Plan, and Pitch

Throughout the competition, teams will document their analysis and refine their recommendations through a series of deliverables. Their work will culminate in a final energy plan that explains:

• The district’s existing conditions, needs, and priorities
• The technologies and strategies the team evaluated
• The team’s recommended portfolio of solutions
• Expected costs, benefits, and trade-offs
• A proposed approach for implementation.

Teams will also translate their work into multiple communication formats, including a final presentation, poster, and brief “quick pitch.” These activities will help students practice presenting complex technical and financial concepts to different audiences, an essential skill across the energy sector.

The competition will conclude with a final event in spring 2027 at NLR, where qualifying teams will present their recommendations, receive feedback from expert reviewers, connect with other competitors, and learn more about energy careers.

“The Energy District Cup challenges students to work through the kinds of complex, interdisciplinary decisions campus leaders and energy professionals face every day.”—Arielle Cardinal, NLR competition co-lead

Power Up With Diverse Perspectives

The Energy District Cup is open to eligible teams from U.S. colleges and universities (see the Energy District Cup rules for more information on eligibility). DOE strongly encourages multidisciplinary teams made up of students from a wide range of academic programs, including:

• Engineering and applied sciences
• Architecture and building sciences
• Business and finance
• Economics
• Environmental studies
• Public policy and planning
• Communications
• Data science
• Skilled and technical programs.

Students do not need prior experience in campus energy planning to participate.

Teams may be assigned a district use case that will provide the information needed for the analysis. Eligible teams may also propose their own district, subject to competition requirements and data availability.

Learn More and Register by Oct. 14

Registration for full-academic-year teams is open now. Teams do not need to be fully formed at the time of registration. Interested students and faculty members are encouraged to:

• Register for the informational webinar
• Review the Energy District Cup rules
• Submit questions to EnergyDistrictCup@nlr.gov
• Register through HeroX.

To participate throughout the full academic year, be sure to register by 11:59 p.m. MDT on Oct. 14, 2026.

Then assemble your team and start imagining what is possible for the campuses of tomorrow.