Concerns over degradation of environmental conditions have led the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to pursue clean-energy sources (see image above) such as carbon-free electricity (CFE). As part of that effort, on behalf of all U.S. federal agencies, the DoD announced its partnership with Dominion Energy Virginia to develop CFE for federal facilities in Virginia.
It is part of a strategy to work jointly in support of President Joseph R. Biden’s Federal Sustainability Plan and Executive Order 14057 for the federal use of electric vehicles (EVs) and net-zero-emissions buildings by 2030.
As the U.S. assistant Secretary of Defense for energy, installations, and environment chief sustainability officer, Honorable Brendan Owens, explains, “The Department of Defense is the largest energy consumer in the federal government. As such, our relationships with our energy service providers are critically important. Working in partnership with Dominion Energy to ensure that our installations are supplied with resilient, reliable, and clean electricity enhances military readiness and strengthens the communities where our service members and civilian teammates live.”
In the move to CFE, it's expected that producing locally supplied CFE will create excellent jobs, save taxpayer money, and result in cleaner air for local communities using the CFE.
Owens observed, “To achieve the goal of resilient, reliable, clean electricity, DoD and Dominion Energy are jointly exploring several potential solutions, including on-site clean power generation, building-level energy efficiency, and a variety of other resilience and efficiency enhancing distributed-energy resources. These efforts will deliver enhanced military readiness and community resilience.”
Ed Baine, President of Dominion Energy Virginia, said, “For several years, Virginia has been at the forefront of our nation's clean-energy transition. We're excited to work with the Department of Defense to build on that progress and help achieve the federal government's clean-energy goals.”