FEMP is helping agencies meet their mandated energy savings goals by offering partnership opportunities with their serving utilities and trainings that explore contracting options, including utility energy service contracts (UESCs). A UESC, used for small and large projects, is a limited-source contract between a federal agency and a serving utility that provides energy management and demand-reduction services, enabling agencies to upgrade infrastructure, implement energy and water conservation measures, and install renewable energy, with little to no upfront costs. This one-day comprehensive UESC training examines strategies and methods used by experienced contracting officers and their technical teams-from project development to contract award and post-acceptance. FEMP and experts from DOE's national labs will present best practices for acquisition planning, contractor selection, site assessments, technology selection, third-party financing, and performance assurance. This course is accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training, and there is no registration fee to attend. CEUs will be awarded upon successful completion of an online quiz and evaluation following the workshop. Priority registration will be given to contracting officers, contracting specialists, and other federal employees. Attendees from private industry will be admitted as space allows. Please note that registration for this training is separate from registration for the FUPWG seminar.
Instructors
John Michael Forrest, Program Manager, FEMP Utility Program, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Read Bio
John Michael Forrest serves as the lead for FEMP's Utility Program which assists DOE sites across the country with implementing utility energy service contracts and other utility partnership projects to help federal agencies achieve their energy goals. He is a licensed attorney, a member of the DC Bar, and holds a J.D. from William & Mary Law School as well as a bachelor's degree in business administration from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina.
Jeff Gingrich, Project Manager, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Read Bio
Jeff is a project manager specializing in project development and finance at NREL. Since joining NREL in 2019, his work has focused on supporting the FEMP Utility Program with efforts to expand the use of performance contracting across the federal government, helping federal agencies achieve energy goals through the implementation of Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs). In addition to advising agencies on project development requirements and best practices, Jeff oversees the development of training and resources to equip agencies with the tools needed to successfully execute projects.
Chandra Shah, Senior Project Leader, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Read Bio
Chandra Shah is a senior project leader at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). She has been supporting the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) since 1998--helping agencies purchase off-site renewable energy, implement distributed energy projects, and achieve energy/water goals through utility energy service contracts (UESC) and other utility partnerships. She is a CEM and holds an M.B.A. from the University of Washington and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan.
Russ Dominy, NREL Contractor, Former Navy Contracting Officer, BGS-LLC Read Bio
Russ Dominy is an experienced acquisition professional having served as the former acquisition director/chief of contracts office at NAVFAC Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center. Russ was the department head responsible for overall management of 50 employees, including 40 contracting personnel. Russ also has held positions as the supervisory contracting officer, procurement contracting officer (PCO), administrative contracting officer, contract specialist, acquisition manager, and contracting officer representative. Russ served as the PCO and source selection authority for all large contract actions including over $1B in ESPC contracts. Russ was responsible for Command Government Commercial purchase card consisting of more than $2 million in transactions annually.
Tim Kehrli, Project Manager, National Renewable Energy Laboratory Read Bio
Tim joined the NREL Performance contracting team in 2024 following more than 30 years of energy efficiency and sustainability positions including his role as the energy manager at US DOE Hanford where he led the technical team for the first DOE site wide ESPC contract. He continued in the ESPC arena as a NREL subcontractor for more than 10 years where he provided project facilitator and contract development services for projects across the US. Following his work with DOE he entered the private sector, working on green technologies in PV, lighting and laboratory equipment. During his time in the private sector DOE Tim worked with utilities across the US and foreign governments to analyze and develop incentives for energy efficiency improvements. Just prior to joining NREL, Tim was the federal government capture lead for EPRI where he coordinated federal grant applications and collaborated with EPRI's utility members to leverage the US government's resilience and electrification program funding.
Michael Mungal, Project Executive, CEM, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Read Bio
Michael is a Federal Project Executive (FPE) supporting the ESPC Program for DOE FEMP. Mr. Mungal coordinates ESPCs, including other third-party financing activities by assisting federal agencies in the development and evaluation of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Mr. Mungal has over 26 years of experience in developing and evaluating energy projects for local, state, and federal government sector customers. Mr. Mungal has previously served as a FEMP approved Project Facilitator (PF) and has assisted numerous agencies in navigating through FEMPs ESPC project development process. Michael is a licensed Professional Engineer in two states, a licensed General Contractor in Florida and has a M.S. and B.S. degrees in Civil/Environmental Engineering.
Christine E. Walker, PhD, PE, CEM, CMVP, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Read Bio
Dr. Christine Walker is a Senior Energy Advisor, providing technical support to the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and the Department of Defense. She performs engineering and economic analyses for the implementation of energy, resiliency, and cost savings projects at federal facilities. Before this position, Christine worked at Oak Ridge National Laboratory supporting FEMP, and in industry for energy service companies for more than 10 years in developing ESPC projects in the public, private, and federal markets. She has over 20 years of experience leading and managing project development and engineering teams and addressing comprehensive energy management in the commercial, institutional, residential, and industrial markets through analytics and building performance analyses. Christine received her doctorate in building technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MBA and MS in business analytics from Indiana University Kelley School of Business, and her Master of Science in mechanical engineering, and Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Illinois. She is a licensed professional engineer in multiple states.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:
- Identify the basis of the UESC authority as a tool for achieving energy and cost savings at federal facilities;
- Select unique characteristics of UESC projects, including allowable energy conservation measures, performance assurance/measurement and verification, and funding/financing considerations;
- Recognize common UESC contracting options and the process for leveraging GSA area-wide contracts to streamline the contracting process;
- Identify how and why agencies may contract with a serving utility without full and open competition, and what needs to be documented in the contract file;
- Select key components of the project development process, including best practices for conducting preliminary assessments and detailed investment-grade audits;
- Identify the fundamental elements of a performance assurance plan and how it's used to ensure long-term project savings and performance;
- Recognize the contracting officer's role in determining fair and reasonable pricing and methods for reviewing price proposals;
- Recognize the approaches to how UESC projects are financed and strategies to ensure best value for the government;
- Identify how to leverage resources FEMP makes available to implement successful UESC projects.
