FORT CARSON, Colo. — In an agreement announced March 16, 2022, Colorado Springs Utilities will begin operating and maintaining Fort Carson’s electric and natural gas infrastructure outside of buildings in early 2023.
Col. Nate Springer, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Carson, and Aram Benyamin, chief executive officer, Colorado Springs Utilities, signed the pact, known as an Intergovernmental Support Agreement (IGSA), during a utilities board meeting at Springs Utilities.
“Because Colorado Springs Utilities is so much larger than our base operations contractor, it immediately makes us more resilient,” Springer said.
Army leaders and utilities board members indicated that the agreement for Colorado Springs Utilities crews to operate and maintain outdoor infrastructure has been in the works for close to three years and that it will allow the Mountain Post to harness the local utility’s means, methods, supply chain and network. The partners said it will not impact other utility customers and that it should be a seamless process for Fort Carson.
“We have staff, a warehouse system and bigger buying power that we can leverage to support (Fort Carson), which will help keep costs minimal as well as lower costs in some areas,” said Travas Deal, chief operations officer, Colorado Springs Utilities.
Lt. Gen. Douglas M. Gabram, commanding general, U.S. Army Installation Management Command, touted the agreement as important for the Mountain Post.
“We’re going after three objectives – affordability, efficiency and resiliency – and these kinds of agreements enable that,” he said. “IGSAs also support the Army’s energy and water strategic plan, which was recently published along with our climate strategy.”
This IGSA is slated to begin in January 2023 and last for 10 years, with one-year renewal options.
Springer explained that it’s just one of many energy projects and efforts that the post has planned for the near future.
“Right now, we have between seven and eight megawatts of solar energy on post,” he said. “We were just notified by Army leaders that we will get a second solar field, which will double our capacity, so by the end of 2022, we’ll have about 14 megawatts of energy specifically from solar.”
He also mentioned the post’s Battery Energy Saving System (BESS), which is the largest BESS system in the Army enterprise and a future flow battery that will allow Fort Carson to store power longer.
“We have a worldwide mission, so it’s really important for us to be resilient and know that our energy is going to be continuous,” he said.
Moving ahead, Fort Carson leaders said phase II of the agreement, slated for 2023, might include Springs Utilities in the post’s drinking and wastewater systems.
“We have been in partnership with Springs Utilities for decades,” said Joe Wyka, Director of Public Works at Fort Carson. “They sell us electricity, all of our drinking water and all of our natural gas. They know our systems and have been reliable partners. This is a natural extension of that relationship.”
Social Sharing