Federal Agency Authority to Contract for Electric Power and Renewable Energy Supply

Abstract

The federal government purchases roughly 57 million megawatt-hours of electricity annually (based on FY2007 data, the latest information available), making it the single largest U.S. energy consumer. The Department of Defense (DOD) alone consumes over 29 million megawatt-hours. The federal Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs) sell electricity at more than twice the volume of federal power purchases, over 127 million megawatt-hours of hydropower annually, and are projected to produce wind-generated energy far in excess of the 2005 Energy Policy Act (EPAct) mandates for increasing federal use of renewable energy. Various statutes and regulations authorize federal agencies to enter into contracts for their utility services and designate the General Services Administration (GSA) as the lead federal contracting agency. Utility services include electricity, natural gas, water, sewerage, thermal energy, chilled water, hot water, and steam. GSA may enter into area-wide contracts for up to 10 years with electric utility service suppliers to cover the needs of federal agencies within the suppliers franchise territory. GSA has delegated certain authority to DOD to enter into utility service contracts on behalf of the military departments, and delegated similar authority to other federal agencies. DOD can also enter into contracts for up to 30 years for services to operate energy generating facilities on military installations. To meet the EPAct renewable energy goals, multiyear power purchase agreements (upwards of 10 to 20 years) are proposed with small and merchant renewable power generators. The agreements would fully commit funds up front, contrary to the pay-as-you-go rules of the 1990 Budget Enforcement Act. In addition to utility service contracts, federal agencies can also take advantage of utility-sponsored incentive programs for reducing energy demand.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2012
Accession Number
AD1171939

Entities

People

  • Anthony Andrews

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Business Administration
  • Climate Change Adaptation
  • Congress
  • Electric Power
  • Energy Conservation
  • Energy Consumption
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Generators
  • Energy Management
  • Flood Control
  • Hydropower
  • Law
  • Management Personnel
  • National Security
  • Organizational Structure
  • Solar Energy
  • United States Government
  • Wind Energy
  • Wind Turbines

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Engineering.
  • Public Financial Management and Budgeting