# Coast Guard Training Center gets energy savings contract

/ Published Oct. 12, 2021
PETALUMA, Calif., 
A Defense Logistics Agency Energy Savings Performance Contract will add energy resiliency and reduce reliance on the power grid for a northern California U.S. Coast Guard Training Center.

TRACEN Petaluma, the Coast Guard’s largest West Coast training center located within Sonoma County, California, will implement six energy conservation measures across the 837-acre campus to reduce its electric load and increase the on-base distribution system reliability.

“I’m very proud of the strategic partnerships that the Coast Guard has established to address the unique needs of TRACEN Petaluma and create a roadmap for how we can address similar concerns at other Coast Guard locations,” said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Carola List, Assistant Commandant for Engineering and Logistics. “The use of ESPCs allows the Coast Guard to address critical infrastructure improvements in a timeframe the would be unachievable with traditional methods and provides holistic solutions to complex issues that would be difficult to achieve otherwise.” 

Jacob Vigil, a contracting officer with DLA Energy Electricity, Renewables, and ESPC Division, said this is the first energy performance contract the Coast Guard has partnered with DLA Energy for contracting support, allowing the Coast Guard to enter the contract with limited upfront costs or special appropriations.

“This is a high-profile project and important partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard,” Vigil said. “The project goal’s is to lessen the impact of wildfire-induced regional power outages and enhance energy resilience to sustain operations and extend shelter-in-place capability for prolonged periods,10-plus days.”

Thousands of personnel live year-round on TRACEN Petaluma and the surrounding region which has become increasingly vulnerable to intermittent and prolonged power outages due to high wind events, wildfires, and persistent drought limiting hydropower resources across the region. These risks led the Coast Guard to establish an interagency agreement with DLA Energy Installation Energy to provide ESPC contracting support in response to a Force Readiness Command urgent request.

The contract will build a 5-megawatt solar photovoltaic array, 5.6-megawatt battery energy storage system and implement building controls, lighting improvements, low voltage transformers and kitchen HVAC equipment upgrades. 

The $46.9 million contract is expected to create annual savings of $1.3 million, providing 8.6 million kilowatts of electricity and 49,500 gallons of propane. The project’s cost will be paid overtime with the energy savings over the 25-year contract term and two-year construction schedule, Vigil said. 

ESPCs are utilized for reducing energy consumption at an installation through improvements to infrastructure, facilities, and facility systems. ESPCs can be used to replace inefficient energy and water-consuming equipment including HVAC, lighting, electrical power generation, and renewable energy.

DLA Energy offers acquisition support for facility energy requirements including electricity commodity purchase support, renewable energy credit purchases, long term renewable energy project development and energy savings performance initiatives. DLA Energy also assists customers in determining which contractual and financing vehicles are applicable to their renewable energy or energy conservation effort. For more information on the ESPC and/or renewable energy programs, please contact dlaenergy.rteam@dla.mil.