Executive Summary
This paper explores opportunities for the U.S. military to use its renewable energy procurement to achieve energy security for its domestic facilities. Power outages caused by extreme weather and intentional attack pose a major risk to U.S. military bases. In order to maintain its missions abroad and support its expanding mission on U.S. soil, the Department of Defense (DoD) will need to deploy resilient energy systems that can sustain critical domestic operations during blackouts. All four military services have adopted renewable energy targets in response to federal legislation and Executive Orders and are installing on-base renewable energy. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar can provide bases with an unlimited and local source of power during grid disruptions. Current procurement policies and practices, however, do not provide a clear model for integrating renewable energy and energy security. In order to scale-up the integration of renewable energy into back-up power systems and microgrids, the DoD should consider the following recommendations:
Support enhanced energy security planning.
Each installation should determine the pathway to energy security on their individual facility. A ranking of facility criticality and energy back up requirements should be included as part of this master planning exercise, and renewable energy sources available to meet those needs should be identified.
Empower energy managers.
Base energy managers are in the best position to support the scale-up of renewable energy configured to provide energy security. Providing energy managers with increased authority and funding will empower them to enact policies and changes that will better lay the groundwork for resilient installations. Revenues and cost savings from DoD energy investments, for example, cannot be captured and reinvested by bases. Enabling legislation to allow installations access to these funds could significantly support current and future installation energy security activities.
Create pathways to procure and fund energy security.
DoD should develop guidance for bases to procure secure renewable energy systems in a replicable way. This could include the adoption of cost-benefit analyses that recognize the value of energy security and enable resilient renewable energy systems to be procured at a premium above the price of non-secure energy. DoD should also provide funds to support projects on DoD installations that improve facility energy security. This project could mirror the existing Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP).
Create community partnerships.
Bases should identify opportunities to jointly pursue secure renewable energy with their local utilities and surrounding communities. There could be significant opportunities for new partnerships focusing on energy security, particularly given increasing interest in climate adaptation planning on the part of federal, state, and local governments and the reliance of DoD bases on state and local infrastructure.
