Energy service companies (ESCOs) develop, design, build, and fund projects that save energy, reduce energy costs, and decrease operations and maintenance costs at their customers' facilities. In general, ESCOs act as project developers for a comprehensive range of energy conservation measures and assume the technical and performance risks associated with a project.
ESCOs are distinguished from other firms that offer energy-efficiency improvements in that they use the performance-based contracting methodology. When an ESCO implements a project, the company's compensation is directly linked to the actual energy cost savings.
The substantial energy-efficiency retrofits and renewable energy technologies inherent in energy savings performance contract (ESPC) projects typically require a large initial capital investment and may have a relatively long payback period. Debt payments are tied to the energy cost savings guaranteed for the project, so the agency pays for the capital improvements of the ESPC project with the money saved by the project (i.e., the difference between pre-installation and post-installation energy use and other related costs).
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) manages two categories of ESCOs that perform federal government ESPC projects: DOE IDIQ ESPC ESCOs and DOE Qualified ESCOs.
DOE IDIQ ESPC ESCOs
Firms on the DOE Qualified List of ESCOs that competed for and were awarded a DOE ESPC master indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) or "umbrella" contract.
- See the list of DOE IDIQ ESPC ESCOs.
- View DOE IDIQ ESPC awarded projects.
- Reference the DOE IDIQ ESPC contract sample.
DOE Qualified ESCOs
Firms that have submitted applications and have been approved by a qualification review board that comprises DOE staff to be on the DOE Qualified List of ESCOs.
- See the DOE qualified list of ESCOs.
- Interested in becoming a DOE qualified ESCO?
Explore FEMP's Energy Savings Performance Contracts Pages
- About Federal Energy Savings Performance Contracts
- Awarded DOE IDIQ Energy Savings Performance Contract Projects
- DOE Qualified Energy Service Companies
- Federal Energy Savings Performance Contract Project Performance Reports
- Process for Procuring a Federal Energy Savings Performance Contract
- Measurement and Verification for Federal Energy Savings Performance Contracts
- Advanced Technology Planning for Federal Energy Savings Performance Contracts
- Federal Energy Savings Performance Contract Training
- Resources for Implementing Federal Energy Savings Performance Contracts
- Contacts for Federal Energy Savings Performance Contracts
- Federal Energy Savings Performance Contracting Steering Committee