ESCOs selected for several Air Force ESPCs

  • Published
  • By Jess Echerri
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Engineering and Support Center released selection letters for an energy service company, or ESCO, to AECOM, Siemens Government Services, Inc. and Honeywell International, Inc. late last month.

The letters authorize the ESCO to proceed with preliminary assessment, or PA, for the energy saving performance contract, or ESPC, at Buckley and Schriever Air Force Bases in Colorado, and Los Angeles AFB, California, respectively.

Preliminary assessments for Schriever and Los Angeles are due Dec. 3 and the preliminary assessment for Buckley is due Dec. 4.

The key elements of a preliminary assessment are the summary of the proposed project, description of potential energy conservation measures, estimates of proposed savings, general outline of measurement, verification approach and financial schedules.

"The central goal of the PA is a holistic survey of energy and water efficiency improvements that enable installation-wide solutions in support of federal mandates, including the potential to achieve or exceed 30-percent energy intensity reduction, 20-percent water usage reduction, as well as viable renewable energy and energy security opportunities," said Oksana Joye, the USACE contracting officer for the ESPC at Buckley AFB, in a notice to AECOM.

Due to a constrained budget environment, the Air Force is utilizing third-party financing tools like ESPCs to accomplish energy-efficiency upgrades at its installations. Under the ESPC model, ESCOs compete to finance, design, construct and manage energy projects, and maintain the systems long-term. ESPCs range from 10 years to a maximum of 25 years, with the Air Force paying the ESCO back over the term of the contract from cost savings garnered by the higher efficiency equipment.

"The selection of these ESCOs is a significant milestone," said Les Martin, Air Force ESPC program manager at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center at Tyndall AFB. "These are the first Air Force ESPC opportunities to complete the ESCO down select process using the Army Corps of Engineers in Huntsville as an acquisition agent. We are looking forward to working with the installations, ESCOs and Huntsville as these projects are developed."