The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) provides tactical intelligence to law enforcement agencies across the United States. Located at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, the center employees about 300 people. In September 2017, DEA signed its first Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) ENABLE project that included an energy sales agreement (ESA) with energy services company Ameresco.
The contract was part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s ESPC ENABLE program, which is designed to allow a standardized and streamlined procurement process for small federal projects to install energy conservation measures (ECMs) in six to nine months or less.
The Federal Energy Management Program provided technical support for project development and a $720,000 grant through the Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) program to support the cost of the project. AFFECT provides direct funding to federal agencies through grants for the development of energy and water efficiency projects and processes at U.S. federal government-owned facilities.
Project Highlights
This project delivered DEA’s first renewable energy system. The contract included an energy sales agreement that allowed the project to capitalize on cost savings available through the solar investment tax credit. Ameresco installed two ground-mounted, photovoltaic solar array systems consisting of more than 7,340 solar panels and capable of producing 2.5 MW of energy. This system will produce an estimated 4.5 million kWh per year, which represents about 85% of EPIC’s electricity usage. Ameresco owns and will operate the system for 20 years to provide reliable electricity at a stable price to the DEA. Construction of the entire system took 9,000 hours.
Impacts
In addition to the solar installation, more than 1,400 lighting fixtures were converted to high-efficiency LEDs that will not only save energy but will also reduce maintenance and replacement costs. As well as providing high-quality lighting, use of LEDs will allow for installation of dimming controls in each office, improving the work environment for DEA staff. Over the term of the project, DEA will realize $9.2 million in energy cost savings.
Together, the energy efficiency measures from this project are expected to provide estimated annual savings and benefits of:
- $320,000 saved in energy costs
- Carbon emissions reduced by more than 3,400 metric tons.