JB San Antonio releases notice of opportunity for base-wide ENABLE ESPC

  • Published
  • By Kevin Elliott
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Contracting officials at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, recently released a notice of opportunity for an ENABLE energy savings performance contract at the installation to facilitate a base-wide exterior lighting upgrade.

The projected scope of the effort includes replacing more than 4,000 exterior light fixtures with light emitting diode, or LED, units and includes everything from simple wall pack fixtures to 135-foot aircraft parking lights.

"We targeted exterior lighting because it has the potential to bring us the most significant energy and cost savings," said Jorge Canavati, contract specialist for the project. "And we wanted to take advantage of the ESPC ENABLE model because of the streamlined process."

The ESPC ENABLE program is a Department of Energy Federal Energy Management Program initiative to provide "a standardized and streamlined process for small federal facilities to install targeted energy conservation measures in six months or less," according to the DOE website. Traditional ESPCs, conversely, are larger budget, multi-year projects that sometimes include hundreds of energy conservation measures.

"The JBSA project is a great fit for the ENABLE process," said Les Martin, ESPC program manager at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, the agency responsible for managing the Air Force's ESPCs. "It has targeted ECMs, in this case exterior lighting, and is conducive to the accelerated time table."

The six-month timeframe of ENABLE projects is possible through the use of Government Services Agency Schedule 84, special item number 246-5, and its list of pre-qualified vendors and pre-negotiated pricing.

Per the FEMP website, ESPC ENABLE projects share some aspects with traditional ESPCs, including zero upfront capital costs to the agency, guaranteed energy cost savings that exceed annual payment, prescribed measurement and verification to ensure savings are achieved, and project assistance and technical support from FEMP experts.

Canavati has been pleased with the process so far.

"Third-party financing is still a relatively new concept for us in the Air Force, but everyone at FEMP and AFCEC has been really helpful and resourceful, and has been open to answering any questions I have," he said.

Energy service companies, or ESCOs, had until June 30 to respond to the notice of opportunity. JBSA and AFCEC will review proposals, choose the ESCO with the best plan and schedule the work.

To learn more about the ESPC ENABLE program, visit http://energy.gov/eere/femp/espc-enable.