ANN ARBOR—To help move clean energy technologies from the laboratory to commercial production, DTE Energy and the University of Michigan are challenging teams from Michigan colleges and universities to develop the best business plans for bringing new clean energy technologies to market.

The teams with winning ideas will share $100,000 in prize money, to be awarded in the spring of 2009.

Applications and details of the competition are available on the Clean Energy Prize Web site: www.dtecleanenergyprize.com.

“Our goal is to drive promising clean energy ideas and technologies from the research lab to commercialization,” said Knut Simonsen, president, DTE Energy Ventures. “This competition will encourage students and faculty to integrate new technology with a sound business plan and it will reward the winning teams with additional resources so they can further develop their ideas. We also believe the competition will help reinvigorate a culture of entrepreneurship in Michigan.”

The U-M Ross School of Business’ Zell Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies, College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute along with student organizations MPowered Entrepreneurship and the Ross Energy Club are organizing the competition. The competition is open to students and faculty from all Michigan colleges and universities. Each team must have at least one University of Michigan student or faculty member.

“The marriage of business and engineering talents that this competition will create will be of great benefit to clean tech commercialization,” said Thomas Kinnear, executive director of the Zell Lurie Institute.

The competition will require that teams focus on business ideas that support renewable energy, energy efficiency, smart grid technologies, environmental control technologies, plug-in electric vehicles or energy storage.

“This competition brings out the best of both industry and academic life,” said Gary Was, director of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute. “It will inspire some of the most promising minds in this state to direct their knowledge and creativity to the great challenges of energy, and give them the experience, and excitement, of bringing world-class research to market.”

The business plan entries will be judged by independent panels that will include leaders from the venture capital, business, industry and academic communities.

The prize money will help the winning teams start new businesses that can contribute to Michigan’s emerging role as a leader in clean energy. Assuming this initial competition is successful, it is envisioned that the competition will be held in subsequent years with an annual prize pool of $200,000.

“DTE Energy’s sponsorship of the Clean Energy Prize expands on our efforts to develop Michigan-based energy businesses and we are pleased to contribute to that development in this exciting way,” Simonsen said.

DTE Energy Ventures is a DTE Energy company that invests in emerging energy technologies and to date has invested more than $100 million in energy-related companies and funds, making it one of the larger Michigan-based venture capital operations. Information about DTE Energy Ventures is available at www.dteenergyventures.com.

This competition coincides with a number of other energy and sustainability related initiatives at the University of Michigan, including the College of Literature, Science and the Arts’ theme semester Energy Futures: Society, Innovation and Technology, which will examine the human and social behaviors associated with energy demand.

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) is a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Its operating units include Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving 2.2 million customers in Southeastern Michigan, MichCon, a natural gas utility serving 1.3 million customers in Michigan and other non-utility, energy businesses focused on power and industrial projects, coal and gas midstream, unconventional gas production and energy trading. Information about DTE Energy is available at www.dteenergy.com.

The globally recognized Samuel Zell & Robert H. Lurie Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies provides the curriculum, program initiatives, community involvement, and alumni outreach activities that deliver exclusive resources for future entrepreneurs of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute develops, coordinates and promotes multidisciplinary energy research and education at the U-M. Some 75 faculty in disciplines ranging from engineering to policy to environmental science to urban planning are a part of the institute.

U-M Sustainability fosters a more sustainable world through collaborations across campus and beyond aimed at educating students, generating new knowledge, and minimizing our environmental footprint. Learn more at sustainability.umich.edu.