N.C. Military Business Center Attends Energy Exchange

The N.C Military Business Center attended Energy Exchange March 25-28^th in Pittsburgh, PA. Energy Exchange is hosted by the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and the conference focuses on services available for agencies to meet their energy and water requirements and goals. The event provides an opportunity to network with energy and water professionals and determine implementation solutions.

The conference opened with remarks on the factors influencing the nation’s energy transition including Executive Order 14057 and the Energy Act of 2020. Risks to the energy transition include deferred maintenance of federal facilities, cybersecurity, price volatility, and climate change impacts. It is imperative federal facilities get the right procurement and contracts in place as well as take advantage of all the federal funding opportunities. One that was highlighted includes the Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) program, which provides grants for the development of energy and water efficiency projects at U.S. federal government-owned facilities. AFFECT Phase 2 funding is out now, and projects are due June 27th.

One key theme of the conference was energy resilience and how it is being addressed whether that is through alternative finance, innovative technologies, or partnerships. Many Department of Defense (DoD) programs fund energy resilience work. They include the Operational Energy and Improvement Fund (OEPF); the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), and the Operational Energy Capability Improvement Fund (OECIP).

An important panel was the DoD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy from each of the branches including Mike McGee, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Defense for Energy Resilience; Christine Ploschke, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability; Peter Lynch, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy; Nancy Balkus, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for the Environment; and, Roberto Guerrero, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Operational Energy. The session reminded attendees that open-source intelligence has been shared and adversaries have breached facilities; energy systems are especially popular targets. This makes it important for military bases to try and isolate critical facilities as much as possible.

Microgrids are a key way to address a myriad of problems by sending energy from one part of a system to another, and when combined with electrification, it allows electricity to go to multiple places. Christine Ploschkenoted that each decision in the Army is about how to maximize resilience, efficiency and affordability and the weight of these factors ensures the right decision. Projects have included resilience work at Los Alamitos, CA for a solar power microgrid; efficiency at Fort Knox, KY with LED lighting, and affordability at Ft. Carson, CO with the use of a battery energy storage system. Peter Lynch discussed the issue of charging private vehicles on base and the importance of addressing deferred maintenance. Finally, Roberto Guerrero mentioned the logistical challenges of getting fuel to the right place at the right time in the Air Force.

Two topics were addressed critical to military bases in other sessions. First, the challenges of black start exercises were discussed. A black start exercise means the delivery of energy from off a base is terminated before backup generation assets on the installation are turned on.  Another way to accomplish this is through an Energy Resilience Table-Top Exercise which are simulated exercises that assess an installation’s ability to respond to different power disruption scenarios. Several bases have done black start exercises and it’s beneficial to expose interdependencies if something doesn’t work. The exercise allows a base to isolate areas to address in advance of a real natural disaster.

Finally, several sessions discussed the partnership between a utility and a military base to deploy electric vehicle infrastructure. Southern Company leveraged the General Services Administration (GSA) Area Wide Contract with Marine Corps Base Albany as a turnkey project. On the other hand, Southern Company installed EV infrastructure at Ft. Moore and then turned the assets over to the base to manage. The point is that there are a variety of options to work with utilities and military bases on deciding the best path forward to locate EV charging infrastructure.

Energy Exchange 2025 will be located in Anaheim, California August 5-7^th. NCMBC looks forward to attending the event in 2025.