Tinker AFB fired up with Energy Saving Performance Contract

  • Published
  • By Kevin Elliott
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  A massive energy savings performance contract at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., is nearing completion and is already paying dividends.

The $80.6 million contract was awarded to Tinker in August 2012 with a construction term of 33 months. The project involves shutting down three central high pressure steam plants, some dating to the 1940s, improving a fourth plant, and fitting 56 individual buildings on the base with high-efficiency, natural-gas fired heating equipment.

The effort is projected to save Tinker $6.4 million a year in utility and operation and maintenance costs, with an overall 30-percent reduction in natural gas consumption. 

"Our gas usage has dropped significantly already," said Rex Stanford, Tinker ESPC manager. "In fact, when we shut down the first two plants, we got a call from our local gas supplier. They thought one of their meters was having an issue because our usage had dropped so much. It was actually just a straight reduction."

Even though last winter's temperatures were colder than the year before, Tinker's natural gas use still reduced by over 100,000 mBtu.

"The project is still under construction so much of the savings are still to come," Stanford said.

A core tenet of the ESPC program is partnership with third-party investors called energy savings companies, or ESCOs. For the Tinker ESPC, the ESCO is Honeywell, and the partnership has been very time-efficient.

"The ESCO is several months ahead of schedule," Stanford said. "One of the central plants involved only runs during the winter and the ESCO helped us get that plant offline early so we didn't have to bring it up this past winter."

With an $80.6 million price tag, the Tinker ESPC is one of the largest energy projects in the Air Force. However, none of the upfront cost is borne by taxpayers. The ESCO fronts the cost of the upgrades and the Air Force pays it back from the energy and operation and maintenance cost savings achieved by improved energy efficiency and lower utility expenses. In this case, the ESPC will be paid back over a 21-year performance period.

"The ESPC is allowing us to upgrade our infrastructure, reliably reduce the installation's energy intensity and help the Air Force and the Department of Defense meet energy savings goals; all while relying on third-party investment dollars for those capital improvements and energy savings," said Col. Lea Kirkwood, Tinker's 72nd Air Base Wing vice commander.

ESPCs, like the one at Tinker, are a strategic way to make the most of Air Force funds in light of tighter budgets, Stanford said.

"We know two things will happen," Kirkwood said. "We will continue to use energy and the cost of that energy will continue to increase. What we are really doing with projects like these is saving future operational costs for the Air Force."