The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance is excited to announce the winners of the 18th annual Inspiring Efficiency Awards. Each year, we honor leaders and innovators in the energy efficiency industry across five categories: Leadership, Education, Impact, Innovation and Marketing. MEEA is proud to highlight and uplift the groundbreaking achievements in our industry as we move forward and continue to advance energy efficiency throughout the Midwest. It is our pleasure to recognize so many impactful individuals, organizations and programs. This year’s winners are:

The Inspiring Efficiency Leadership Award is presented to individuals or organizations who are strong leaders for energy efficiency in their city, state, region or community. 2021 brought many great applicants, but there were two that went above and beyond.

Each year, the Inspiring Efficiency Leadership Award is presented to the organization or individual who has served as a strong leader in support of energy efficiency in their city, state, region, company or community. In 2021, there were two recipients of the Inspiring Efficiency Leadership Awards.

Today’s post highlights DTE’s Energy Efficiency Assistance Program for winning the 2021 Inspiring Efficiency Impact Award. Adaptability is key in the implementation of energy efficiency programs and DTE’s Energy Efficiency Assistance Program is a prime example of that. With their quick changes in response to the global pandemic and constant stakeholder engagement to ensure they are meeting the needs of their community, they truly go above and beyond.

Focus on Energy took home the 2021 Inspiring Efficiency Marketing Award with its well deserving digital strategy for the Wisconsin Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Resources Program. The team innovated the marketing strategy to fit their communities’ needs as those needs shifted during the global pandemic. From increasing their social media presence to developing accessible online training and events, they saw an opportunity to reach their customer communities in a new way.

Today we are highlighting a winner of the 2021 Inspiring Efficiency Innovation Award, ComEd Energy Efficiency Program’s Fix-It-Now Compressed Air offering. This award was presented to them because of their ability to implement a new and innovative program with impressive results. ComEd’s Fix-It-Now Compressed Air program aims to directly address compressed air leaks, a common issue for many industrial customers. Read on to see why they chose this area to address and how they made it happen.

In 2021, we received another year of competitive applications for all the Inspiring Efficiency Awards. Today, we are highlighting one winner in the Innovation category. The Inspiring Efficiency Innovation Award is presented each year to an organization for developing and implementing a successful new and innovative program, campaign or strategy or implementing a program in a new and innovative way.

The COVID-19 Pandemic has presented significant challenges for program implementers across the Midwest and the world. Whether it was adapting preexisting programs to serve new needs or inventing entirely new programs to address the onslaught of demands brought on from the pandemic, program partners have had to think on their feet and act fast to serve their communities. Today’s post highlights Greenlite Lighting Corporation USA for winning the 2021 Inspiring Efficiency Impact Award.

2021 brought another great year for the Inspiring Efficiency Awards. We had dozens of outstanding applicants working for energy efficiency in their communities. The winners were selected by an incredible group of volunteers who dedicated their time to choosing one or two winners in each category.

During the 16th Annual Inspiring Efficiency Awards Dinner and Gala, the Inspiring Efficiency Marketing Award was presented to the Nicor Gas Energy Efficiency Program’s “Unexpected Love Story” campaign. The Inspiring Efficiency Marketing Award is presented to the nominee that has engaged in or supported a successful marketing campaign or strategy to increase the adoption or market penetration of energy efficient products or altered public behaviors and practices in the Midwest.