These goals are to improve resiliency, optimize demand and assure supply.
Resilience, as defined by EO 13693, is the ability to anticipate prepare for and adapt to changing conditions and withstand respond to and recover rapidly from energy disruptions. This includes identifying and planning for potential threats to energy supplies. This goal helps ensure the Air Force has the capabilities needed to:
· Evaluate and prioritize risks to energy supplies efficiently, consistently and with minimal burden;
· Mitigate impacts from disruptions in energy supplies;
· Assure continuity in operations when energy supplies are interrupted;
· Accommodate highly uncertain fluctuations in energy availability and cost.
To optimize demand, the Air Force is adopting operational and logistical efficiencies and new technologies as a way to improve its energy resiliency and enhance its mission effectiveness. By integrating energy efficient technologies and fuel optimization measures, the Air Force can stabilize and reduce operational and infrastructure energy demand while enhancing its mission and range.
The intent of this goal is to ensure the Air Force is productively and efficiently using energy, while capitalizing on technological and procedural best practices.
Supply assurance focuses on diversifying the types of energy used and their sources in order to mitigate the effect of any supply shortages. It also allows for more flexibility in rapid deployment scenarios.
In March 2016 (updated May 2018), the Office of the Secretary of Defense issued a memorandum establishing a policy to require installation-level energy plans for all DoD components. The U.S. Air Force’s mission-driven Installation Energy Plan process integrates applicable installation and higher-level strategic guidance, plans and policies into a holistic roadmap to help an installation work constructively toward its energy assurance goals.
It creates a decision-making framework to assist Air Force installations in achieving their energy goals and ensuring that energy and water resilience is sufficient to meet critical mission assurance requirements. It accomplishes this by developing a score card ranking each installation and mission in five areas, known as the five Rs. They are:
· Robustness: Can the energy and water systems withstand a variety of scenarios?
· Redundancy: Are there multiple alternative systems and sources to avoid single points of failure?
· Resourcefulness: Is energy efficiently managed and delivered?
· Response: Is the installation prepared to respond to an emergency or disruption?
· Recovery: How quickly can the installation restore normal conditions?
The first three address an installation’s preparedness for disasters. The last two describe an installation’s posture during and after an incident.
After an extensive analysis of critical missions and infrastructure; the resultant Energy Resiliency Dashboard provides a 1-100 score for the installation to see where it is excelling and where it is lacking in each of the five Rs.
Each installation utilizes energy managers to facilitate the achievement of the Air Force Energy Flight Plan goals and Installation Energy Plan. At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the Energy Management office (88 CENPE) facilitated the first in a series of site visits kicking off the installation-level energy plan in mid-September.
This document is slated to be complete by the end of the second-quarter fiscal 2021.
For more information on the WPAFB IEP, or anything energy related, contact the Energy Management Office at WPAFBEnergyOffice@wpafb.af.mil.
About the Author