General Electric has announced a $200 million competition, called the Ecomagination Challenge, that is aimed at fostering entrepreneurial ideas to help speed up development of a "smart grid" in the United States -- a much-needed upgrade to the nation’s aging electric system.

To register your idea or vote for your favorite idea, visit the competition website.

For more information about this story, see the New York Times Green Blog entry "$200 Million for Smart Grid Ideas" by Tom Zeller Jr.:

“With this challenge we are inviting others to work with our partners and us to accelerate progress in creating a cleaner, more efficient and economically viable grid,” Mr. Immelt said. “We want to jump-start new ideas and deploy them on a scale that will modernize the electrical grid around the world.”