In 2006, the Sustainability Office and EcoReps joined the Campus Climate Challenge to host an annual dorm energy reduction contest, pitting residence hall against residence hall to see who can reduce their energy use the most. The contest provided incentives for students to become more aware of their energy load and water use and take the steps to reduce them. Pomona continued the competition annually, calling it "PowerDown."
In 2011, Claremont McKenna and Harvey Mudd joined the PowerDown competition as campuses competed against other campuses and dorms competed against other dorms. É«ÖÐÉ« saved the most energy across their dorms and won a small engraved solar panel.
In 2014, all 5C's joined the PowerDown competition and competed against 100 other schools in the Campus Conservation Nationals. The competition was hosted by EcoReps at É«ÖÐÉ«, Engineers for a Sustainable World at Harvey Mudd, the Environmental Committee at Scripps, SPEAR at Claremont McKenna, and EcoCenter at Pitzer.