Industry News

Summary

The United States Air Force (AF) is seeking a single industry provider to cost-effectively and comprehensively deliver reliable, resilient, and efficient energy to mission owners at an AF installation.  In July 2017, Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Energy released an initial Request for Information (RFI) for two demonstrations of this new way to holistically procure and manage installation energy, known as Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS).  

EaaS envisions a realignment of AF energy procurement and management functions through a single, comprehensive contract to deliver holistic energy solutions to an installation.  Ideally, the EaaS provider would be solely responsible for operation of and investment in the on-base electricity system, including any onsite generation; the procurement of electricity supplies; and the implementation of energy conservation and demand management measures.  With an emphasis on using third-party financing and existing levels of appropriated funds, the expected end-result from implementing EaaS at an AF installation includes the following: 

• A modernized on-base power distribution system that is sufficiently flexible to meet future mission requirements.
• An assured energy supply from dedicated backup power supplies, on-base microgrids, and/or resilient interconnections to the power grid, as appropriate.
• Increased conservation and efficiency of energy usage including advanced capabilities to manage loads to optimize energy supply costs.
• A procurement strategy for commodity energy supplies.
• Coordination of other procurement actions and contractors that directly affect achievement of the goal.
• Collaboration, when possible and where practical, with adjacent communities that provide housing and other services supporting the AF mission to enhance energy resilience.
• Resilient response capabilities with respect to outages ranging from localized transient issues to continental transmission failures of extended duration.
• An all-inclusive plan that encompasses all the above with a single provider using a comparatively easy to manage contract at a cost that is lower than the AF could contract for each service individually. 

The EaaS pilot will focus on providing electric utility services, but the AF will consider Industry recommendations to broaden the scope to include other utilities, particularly natural gas, if acceptable to the Government. 

Response Deadline: June 14, 2019 5:00 PM Eastern

Complete details and RFI are available here. 

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