[CPEO-MEF] ENERGY: GAO calls for renewable energy policy at DOD

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Defense Infrastructure: DOD Needs to Take Actions to Address Challenges 
in Meeting Federal Renewable Energy Goals
GAO-10-104
December 18, 2009

To view the original summary and GAO's recommendations, or to download 
the entire report, go to
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-104


Summary

The Department of Defense (DOD) consumes about 60 percent of all energy 
used at federal government facilities. To encourage an increased use of 
energy from renewable sources, such as solar and wind power, (1) the 
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (the 2005 Act) directs DOD to consume at least 
3 percent of its total electricity from renewable resources starting in 
fiscal year 2007; (2) Executive Order 13423 (the 2007 Executive Order) 
directs that an amount equal to half of the statutorily required 
renewable energy be generated by sources placed into service in 1999 or 
later; and (3) the 2007 Defense Authorization Act directed that at least 
25 percent of electricity consumed by DOD come from renewable sources in 
fiscal year 2025. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked 
to examine (1) DOD's progress toward these three key goals for consuming 
renewable energy in fiscal years 2007 and 2008, (2) challenges to DOD 
meeting those goals, and (3) DOD's plans to meet the goals. GAO reviewed 
relevant laws and DOD and Department of Energy (DOE) policy, plans, and 
data; interviewed agency officials; and visited DOD facilities.

DOD has three key goals for its installations' consumption of renewable 
energy, contained in the 2005 Act, the 2007 Executive Order, and the 
fiscal year 2007 National Defense Authorization Act. DOD met the goals 
in the 2005 Act and 2007 Executive Order in fiscal year 2007. However, 
in fiscal year 2008, DOD fell just short of the 2005 Act goal. Moreover, 
in fiscal years 2007 and 2008, DOD overstated its progress toward the 
goal in the 2007 Defense Authorization Act, counting nonelectric 
renewable energy. In these 2 fiscal years, the 2007 Defense 
Authorization Act goal allowed only electric renewable energy to be 
counted. According to amendments in the fiscal year 2010 Defense 
Authorization Act--which became law in October 2009--DOD is now able to 
count nonelectric renewable energy toward this goal. In fiscal years 
2007 and 2008, when calculating progress toward the 2007 Defense 
Authorization Act goal, DOD included renewable electricity produced on 
DOD land, but not consumed by DOD. According to DOD, it has "facilitated 
production," but has not "directly consumed" this electricity. It is 
unclear whether such renewable energy should be included in the Office 
of the Secretary of Defense's (OSD) calculations of progress toward this 
goal. Moreover, OSD has not published guidance clarifying key terms in 
the language of the goal. With such guidance specifying how the services 
are to implement this goal, DOD will have greater assurance that it can 
accurately assess progress toward the goal and accurately report on this 
progress to Congress. DOD faces three key challenges in meeting the 
renewable energy goals. First, renewable energy projects may sometimes 
be incompatible with installations' need to use land for primary mission 
objectives. For example, wind turbines may conflict with aircraft 
operations during training. Second, renewable energy is often more 
expensive than nonrenewable energy. Therefore, using renewable energy 
can be at odds with DOD and DOE guidance that calls for DOD to invest in 
energy projects when cost-effective. In response, DOD plans to obtain 
additional funds by joining with private industry, such as local 
electric utilities, to develop renewable energy projects. Third, 
however, the use of those private sector approaches can be constrained 
by several factors. For example, energy produced by the projects may not 
count toward the renewable energy goals. By addressing these challenges, 
DOD would strengthen its ability to fully realize the potential of its 
renewable energy resources, improving its chances of meeting the goals 
in the most cost-effective way. OSD has not developed a long-term, 
DOD-wide plan to help ensure that DOD meets the renewable energy goals. 
Such a plan that identifies and addresses key challenges, has strategies 
for coordinating the services' renewable energy activities, sets 
realistic performance measures for achieving the goals, and aligns DOD 
resources will better enable DOD to meet the renewable energy goals.

...

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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