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Award recognizes Western’s role in green power purchase
There is nothing quite as satisfying as getting an award for doing something you wanted to do in the first place. That’s what happened when Restructuring Manager Bob Kennedy and Renewable Energy Manager Mike Cowan received the Presidential Award for Leadership in Federal Energy Management on Western’s behalf. The FEMP awards program recognizes Federal employees for outstanding achievements in:
Partnership helps EPA reach green power goals The Environmental Protection Agency earned the award for its efforts to acquire electricity from renewable sources for its facilities. Kennedy and Cowan were part of the team that coordinated the renewable energy purchases. Other partners in the Green Power Purchase Program included the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the General Services Administration, Department of Defense's Defense Energy Support Center and DOE's Federal Energy Management Program. Western managed the solicitation and provided contracting services for the procurement of renewable energy certificates for EPA facilities in Kansas City, Kan., Denver and San Francisco. NREL provided technical support for the purchase. “It was a really good experience working with the team,” said Kennedy, who is based in Western's Rocky Mountain Regional office. “EPA was very pleased with our work. I expect that they would work with us again.” Interagency cooperation streamlines purchase Justin Spenillo of EPA’s Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch, agreed. “Western’s business expertise was very valuable in helping EPA grade the offers from vendors,” he said. “Going through a Federal power marketing authority eliminated unnecessary delays in the procurement.” “The Economy Act allows Federal agencies to interact on procurement, so it simplifies the process,” Cowan explained. Over the last five years, EPA green power purchases have grown to more than 220 million kWh per year, or about 75 percent of its electricity needs—the highest percentage of any Federal agency. The purchase for the Denver, Kansas City and San Francisco offices was the first time the EPA worked with Western on a procurement. “Our first collaboration with Western proved to be a learning experience that benefited the EPA and Western, and the green power market as a whole,” said Spenillo. Western established its own program to assist Federal agencies wishing to buy renewable energy in 2003. Renewable Resources for Federal Agencies offers two different products. Western can buy and deliver renewable electricity directly to Federal agencies that are wholesale electric service customers. Sites where renewable power delivery is restricted may purchase renewable energy certificates instead. The certificates represent the environmental attributes of renewable power generation. Green tags come from local projects EPA chose to purchase certificates equivalent to more than 17 million kilowatthours annually. The contract, which went into effect Nov. 1, 2004 , will run up to three years. Aquila, Inc. is supplying the certificates for EPA’s Colorado and Kansas City facilities. The green power attributes for the Colorado facilities are coming from the Colorado Green Wind Project in Prowers County, Colo. The Denver Region 8 Office uses 4,700 MWh annually, and the Science and Technology Lab in Golden, Colo., requires 2,100 MWh. The Gray County Wind Project near Montezuma, Kan., is generating the power that will provide 4,450 MWh in certificates for the Kansas City Regional Office, and 3,850 MWh for the Kansas City Lab. EPA’s San Francisco Regional Office will receive 2,275 MWh worth of green tags from geothermal energy provided by 3 Phases Energy Services and generated at The Geysers No. 11 in Middletown, Calif. "Purchasing renewable power certificates not only promotes greenhouse gas emission reductions, it also encourages the growth of local renewable energy development," noted Spenillo. Purchase builds on Western’s experience Another benefit of the purchase was the experience it provided to the participating agencies. It was Western’s largest procurement to date under the Renewable Resources for Federal Agencies program. Western regional offices have secured renewable energy or green tags for Air Force bases in Nebraska and California. “This was our first multi-regional effort, and the first one where we were involved from the ground up,” said Kennedy. It won’t be the last, he believes. “Federal agencies are becoming more aware of the benefits of using renewable energy,” he said. “Western has a lot to offer Federal agencies that want to take advantage of those benefits.” For example, Western’s contracting services are very customer-oriented, Kennedy pointed out. “You have to be flexible when dealing with other agencies’ procedures,” he said. “As a power marketing authority, Western has the experience to accommodate all those different factors.” Buying and selling energy is, after all, the nature of Western’s business. Winning awards for being good at what we do is just icing on the cake. |
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