Performance-Focused Project Development for Utility Energy Service Contracts
Presentation details FEMP's Utility Energy Service Contract initiative and performance-focused project development training.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
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Utility Energy Service Contract Guide: A Resource for Contracting Officers Working on UESC Projects
A Utility Energy Service Contract (UESC) is a limited-source contract between a federal agency and serving utility for energy management services including energy and water efficiency improvements and demand-reduction services. In a UESC, the Contracting Officer (CO) will lead the acquisition effort, supported by technically knowledgeable staff working closely with the utility, to assess potential, investigate technical and economic feasibility, and ensure a fair and reasonable price for design and implementation of the project. The UESC Guide is a compilation of samples and templates developed as a resource to help COs implement Task Orders (TOs) for UESCs under existing U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Areawide Contracts (AWC). All samples and templates provided in this guide were derived from actual UESC project contract documents and will be available for download on FEMP’s website at https://www.energy.gov/node/850656. Templates in Microsoft Word can be modified to address each agency’s unique acquisition process.
Federal Energy Management Program↗
Performance Assurance Planning Guide for Utility Energy Service Contracts: 2025 Edition
Administered by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), the Utility Program has fostered collaboration among federal agencies and their serving utilities for more than 25 years. The Utility Program supports agencies using Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs), a well-developed, effective contracting vehicle that enable the latest approaches to cost-effective energy management at federal sites. Federal agencies have successfully used UESCs to award over 2,000 energy and water efficiency and renewable energy projects, investing approximately $\$$2.8 billion in furthering the Federal Government's efforts to reduce energy intensity. Authorized by 42 U.S. Code section 8256 (10 U.S. Code section 2913 for the Department of Defense), a UESC is a limited-source acquisition between a federal agency and an eligible serving utility for energy management services that generate savings from the implementation of energy- and water -conservation measures (collectively referred to as ECMs), with 42 U.S. Code section 8287 (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, Part 241), providing the term of a UESC, which may extend up to 25 years. Through a UESC, the utility partner assesses designs, and implements the desired ECMs - which can range from lighting retrofits and renewable energy systems, to combined heat and power plants or other technologies and strategies, and may provide financing for the project. The agency may use any combination of appropriations and third-party financing to pay for the project, providing useful flexibility. There is no limit to the project size, big or small, that can be implemented using a UESC. To assist agencies implementing a UESC, FEMP has developed a Utility Energy Service Contract Guide and this companion guidance document to help agencies and their utility partners better understand the best practices for to ensure UESCs continue to perform and generate savings throughout their performance period. These best practices utilize a combination of effective project management, communication, documentation, and a detailed Performance Assurance Plan. This plan is a project specific set of actionable protocols that define important tasks and responsibilities throughout the contract term and reflects the site conditions, complexities, agency capabilities, and operating and maintaining planned ECMs.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Performance Assurance for Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs)
Presentation details NREL's support for the Federal Energy Management Program Utility Energy Service Contract initiative.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
Utility Energy Service Contract Guide
This guide serves as a key resource for acquisition teams developing utility energy service contracts (UESC) with an emphasis on using a task order to acquire energy management services under a General Services Administration areawide contract. The guide features a compilation of templates to assist your efforts from acquisition planning through awarding a task order for design and installation.
Cali, Peter [National Renewable Energy Laboratory ↗
Utility Energy Service Contract Boosts Chemical Weapons Destruction Mission at Army Pueblo Chemical Depot
For six decades, the U.S. Army has safely and securely stored chemical munitions at the Pueblo Chemical Depot in Colorado. To help fulfill international treaty obligations and to meet a congressional deadline of 2023 for the elimination of these aging weapons, initial destruction of the Pueblo chemical weapons stockpile began in 2015. A utility energy service contract (UESC) executed in 2016 between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Depot’s serving utility, Black Hills Energy (BHE), directly supported this mission with the installation of a new electrical substation that was essential to the Depot’s need for uninterrupted power.
Army Pueblo Chemical Depot↗
UESC Overview and FEMP Resources for Project Success
The first part of this webinar provides an introduction to utility energy service contracts (UESCs) and describes the features and benefits of utilizing UESCs to install energy conservation measures at federal sites. The second part introduces the newly launched UESC On-Demand Training Series and other recently published FEMP resources. The modular series of short webinars has been designed to provide in-depth understanding of UESCs and is a great resource for federal agencies and utilities interested in UESC projects.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Federal Contracting Opportunity for Small and Minority-Owned Business
Fact sheet outlines performance contracting opportunities—such as energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs), ESPC ENABLE, and utility energy service contracts (UESC)—that may be an option for small- and minority-owned businesses.
Energy savings performance contracts↗
Financing Microgrids in the Federal Sector
Recent high-impact events such as hurricanes and wildfires highlight the need for energy system resilience. One potential impact of these events is the loss of utility grid power to federal sites, negatively affecting the ability to carry out their missions. Depending on the need to sustain critical functions, it may be important to continue operations during an outage of the electric grid, or at least have power restored quickly after the event. One approach to addressing this need is through a microgrid. Microgrids can provide a more reliable solution than the traditional approach of using a backup generator at individual buildings. A microgrid can enhance a site’s electrical power system during normal operations, as well as provide reliable backup power to critical loads when electric utility power is interrupted. Many times, certain components of a microgrid (and potentially the entire system) can be justified economically and paid for out of energy savings or avoided costs. In cases where savings can cover the project costs, one of several privately financed procurement mechanisms may be used to implement the project. Procurement options available to all federal agencies include utility energy services contracts (UESC), energy savings performance contracts (ESPC), and utility services contracts (USC); other mechanisms such as a power purchase agreement (PPA), enhanced use lease (EUL), and utility privatization (UP) may also be useful to agencies that have the authority to use them. Implementing a microgrid in a comprehensive effort that also includes energy efficiency can provide an important savings component, while reducing power requirements for critical loads, thus reducing the cost of the microgrid and associated distributed energy resources (DER). However, it can be difficult to achieve enough savings and avoided costs to cover the entire microgrid system, so leveraging these avoided costs in combination with appropriated funds may be necessary to implement the full project. When a site is deciding if a microgrid is the best solution, activities early in the process include identifying critical loads and existing DERs, conversations with the local electric utility, and implementation options that work best for the agency and site. This paper explores procurement options and agreements that may be useful to federal agencies interested in implementing microgrids at their sites. Microgrid complexities, implementation considerations, and suggestions to get started are also discussed. This information will be most useful to agencies when they are exploring electric energy system resilience options and/or considering different procurement options to meet their needs.
24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
Guidance and Recommendations for Streamlining Reporting for Federal Energy and Water Efficiency Projects
Federal agencies are required to report on their progress in meeting various energy and water management requirements. These reporting requirements encompass energy and water projects at federal facilities, including projects that are alternatively financed, e.g., conducted through energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) or utility energy service contracts (UESCs). The purpose of this guidance is to provide recommendations to streamline federal agency reporting. The guidance recommends the use of eProject Builder (ePB), a project development and archiving tool for energy projects. ePB carries additional value in its simplification of federal agency reporting by dovetailing with the Federal Energy Management Program’s (FEMP’s) EISA 432 Compliance Tracking System (CTS).
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Performance contracting centers of expertise: a framework for federal implementation
This report examines the establishment and operation of Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) Centers of Expertise (COEs) within the federal government. EPCs, including Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs), are critical mechanisms for advancing energy efficiency, resilience, and infrastructure modernization without the need for significant upfront appropriations. However, EPCs require specialized knowledge in project development, contracting, financing, legal parameters and technical project oversight. Currently federal agencies have varying levels of expertise and institutionalized policy to effectively and consistently use congressionally authorized EPCs which have decades of proven and impactful use. To address these challenges, several federal agencies have created COEs to centralize expertise, standardize practices, and streamline implementation. This report reviews statutory and policy drivers, highlights the benefits and challenges and presents case studies from the General Services Administration (GSA), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center Huntsville (HNC). Recommendations are also provided for agencies considering the establishment of EPC COEs, which will bring much needed structure, consistency and lead to implementation of these energy and infrastructure building projects to save costs for U.S. taxpayers.
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
Case Studies in Leveraging Performance Contracts for Resilience Projects
The resilience of federal facilities has become increasingly important among lawmakers, agency leadership, and the American public as high impact natural hazards occur more frequently over time. Resilience is broadly defined as the ability of a federal facility to withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions to maintain critical functions. The Department of Energy (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) was codified to facilitate the strengthening of federal energy and water efficiency and resilience. Performance contracting is one of the mechanisms through which federal agencies can finance projects at their facilities, but resilience improvement measures do not always result in utility cost savings, which are the primary driver behind performance contracts. This report provides example cases where performance contracts, specifically energy savings performance contracts (ESPC) or utility energy service contracts (UESCs), were used to implement a resilience measure at a federal facility.
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
Determining Price Reasonableness in Energy Performance Contracts
Report provides recommendations and best practices concerning fair and reasonable price determination in federal energy performance contracts (EPCs), which include energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) and utility energy service contracts (UESCs). It reflects the experiences, lessons learned, and best practices of agencies implementing EPCs, and is consistent with FEMP’s training on this subject. This is an update to the 2015 revision.
Dominy, Russ [Boston Government Services (BGS)]↗
Holistic Energy Management Yields Cost Savings and Resilience Benefits for the U.S. Coast Guard Academy
Fact sheet details the overdue overhaul of the U.S. Coast Guard’s third largest energy consumer, the 86-year-old Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. The overhaul was made possible by the largest utility energy service contract (UESC) in U.S. Department of Homeland Security history.
FEMP↗
Best Practices for Smart Grid-Interactive Efficient Building Ready Performance Contracts
Grid-interactive efficient building (GEB) measures reduce costs and optimize energy use for additional grid services by coordinating building energy loads and providing continuous demand management. Incorporating GEB energy conservation measures (ECMs) in performance contracts is reliant upon multiple factors. These factors include site selection with utility tariffs and incentives favorable to GEB, the identification of GEB as a priority in the initial stages of the contracting process, integration of GEB within comprehensive performance contracts with multiple other ECMs, and careful consideration of GEB measurement and verification (M&V) for energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) and performance assurance for utility energy service contracts (UESCs).
building energy loads↗
PV Production - Conceptual Location Analysis
The purpose of a Conceptual Location Analysis is to identify potential project/building sites in the planning phase of a project. The analysis includes review and comment on the potential sites by relevant disciplines. Site criteria encompasses DOE and NNSA requirements pertaining to real property and environmental stewardship and additionally addresses SNL site planning objectives such as sustainability and efficiency. This analysis is intended to be used as a tool to provide a comprehensive perspective on siting decisions, and is not intended to supersede previous siting decisions or agreements. This conceptual location analysis is for the siting of PV for power production. The goal of this Conceptual Location Analysis is to weigh different sites, and come to a consensus on preferred sites for potential solar arrays through an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) or a Utility Energy Service Contract (UESC).
14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
Federal Utility Partnerships & Clean Production of Natural Gas
Karen Thomas from NREL will discuss utility partnership programs with the federal government under the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) of the Department of Energy (DOE). These programs offer a way for a utility to partner with federal agencies. She will describe the federal government's ability to work directly with their serving natural gas utility to implement successful energy efficiency projects. Also, Jill Engel-Cox from NREL's Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis will briefly share their analysis to identify opportunities to reduce emissions and increase efficiency of the production and delivery of natural gas.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
New Construction and UESCs
Presentation at the Federal Utility Partnership Working Group Seminar held November 7-8, 2019, in Washington, DC, reviews the implementation of utility energy service contracts in new federal construction projects.
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗