Aspen, Brighton, and Fort Collins.

Besides being in Colorado, these three cities don't have much in common.

In one, you'll see some of the biggest celebrities in the world. Another is the county seat of Adams County. One is known for the three B's. Bikes, brews, and bands.

I'll leave you to figure which is which. From now until 2017, these three have something new in common. All three are semi-finalists in a national competition to save energy, including electrical and natural gas consumption.

The Georgetown University Energy Prize is a multi-million dollar competition that is challenging small- to medium-size towns, cities, and counties to work together with their local governments, residents, utilities, and others to achieve innovative, replicable, scalable and continual reductions in the per account energy consumption of gas and electricity.

Formally launched in April of 2014, the Georgetown University Energy Prize represents years of study and development that brought leading academics together with government officials, industry professionals, and top national and global non-governmental organizations.

Fort Collins and some of its residents are no stranger to saving energy. The efforts of Fort Zed have had citizens and researchers striving to cut their energy use for years.

The Sustainable Living Fair, the City of Fort Collins' many efforts to help citizens live more sustainably, and the overall attitude of the residents of the town are among the aspects that give our city the chance to win the $5 million prize.

Still, since there are many towns from 27 states across the country, competition will be stiff. Either way, all of the different municipalities participating will learn, and that may be the most important part of the whole program.

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