FORT KNOX, Ky. — The Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment stopped by Fort Knox March 6 to get a feel for the Garrison Command’s efforts to modernize the installation.
Paul Farnan, the ASA (IE&E) since October 2021, said he liked what he saw at Fort Knox.
“I was really, really impressed; this Garrison team is obviously leaning far, far forward on energy resilience,” said Farnan. “They have a fully resilient installation here.”
While here, Farnan observed the installation’s varied innovations that include electric vehicle charging stations, upgrades to family and single housing, the ability to disconnect from the local utility provider and run the installation’s power grid independently, and some of the alternate sources of energy Fort Knox can harness when needed, including a geothermal heating and cooling as well as solar arrays.
Farnan also brought along a small team of cadets from U.S. Army Military Academy to observe and ask questions of Fort Knox officials. He praised Fort Knox’s efforts.
“If not the only energy resilient installation, it’s one of very few in the Army,” said Farnan. “I can’t even think of another installation that has this much resiliency in it. It’s something that they’ve really driven on their own, too.
“They recognized the need, and yes, big Army has put out edicts and policies for energy resilience, but these guys saw unique opportunities, figured out how to do it and took advantage of those opportunities.”
During the visit, Farnan also stopped by a natural gas storage site in nearby Muldraugh, barracks occupied by V Corps Soldiers, and the Chestnut Glen Oak Park communities on post.
He said that by far the most impressive part of the visit was the energy bunker, where Fort Knox energy partner Nolin RECC officials work to monitor and control energy around the installation.
“I loved the Energy Operations Center,” said Farnan. “They can see what’s going on. They’ve got the utility prices up by demand, the pricing rate they charge. They’re able to measure what the cost of natural gas is, figure out what the right mix is, and they’re saving hundreds of thousands of dollars by doing things this way, while maintaining resiliency. That was fascinating. I’ve never seen another room like that anywhere else in the Army.”
Farnan concluded with a challenge for other installations.
“Every part of the country has its own unique advantages. I would like to figure out how to harness what they’ve done here and do it at every installation,” said Farnan. “We can put out policy from Washington, but it’s the installations that have to figure out how to do it. Fort Knox didn’t just figure out how to do it, they figured out how to do it smartly, going above and beyond the minimum.
“I would love to parade other garrison commanders through here and say, ‘Hey, this is what these guys have done – and the fact is, they have done it.’”
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