The $7.49 million Community Energy Innovation Prize was the successor of two U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) prizes related to community-based clean energy innovation: the Community Clean Energy Coalition Prize and the Inclusive Energy Innovation Prize.

The goals of this new combined prize were to support community-based organizations, the private sector, nonfederal government entities, and collegiate teams in developing and carrying out activities related to clean energy that enable business and technology incubation and acceleration as well as other community-based capacity building, innovation, and entrepreneurship.