The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) is helping agencies improve facility operations, upgrade infrastructure, and save taxpayer dollars by offering training and partnership opportunities with their serving utility and ESCO that explore contracting options, including utility energy service contracts (UESCs).
Ideal for any size project, a UESC is a limited-source contract between a federal agency and serving utility for energy management and demand-reduction services. To enter into a UESC, federal staff, utility representatives and energy service companies (ESCOs) must understand the UESC process, legal parameters, contracting requirements, financing options, and other aspects of these agreements. This webinar will help utilities better understand the UESC project process and the important role they play on the UESC project team. Participants will also learn about the resources and UESC project assistance available from FEMP. Best practices will be shared as well as guidance on how to best support their utility partner.
Instructor
Karen Thomas, Senior Program Leader, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Read Bio
Karen Thomas serves as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory lead for the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program's (FEMP) utility energy services contract (UESC) team. She also provides technical support to energy efficiency and renewable energy projects for federal agencies and utilities (nationwide) to implement energy- and dollar-saving projects in federal facilities. She is the lead instructor for the FEMP UESC workshops and provides technical support to federal acquisition teams. An additional aspect of her lead role is growing the number of utilities providing UESC through strategic-partnership building with key utilities and leveraging private-sector investment (approximately $200 million annually) in federal energy projects.
Learning Objectives
Session 3 is intended for agency ESPC acquisition teams to learn best practices for:
- Understand basics of the UESC project process;
- Identify the authorizing legislation for developing UESCs;
- Define roles and responsibilities for utilities, agencies and ESCOs; and
- Utilize the FEMP resources–tools, templates, training, and expertise–available for developing a UESC.
