Objective
Our objective was to determine whether
the Air Force is effectively managing energy
savings performance contracts (ESPCs).
This report is the second in a series of
audits on ESPCs.
Finding
The Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC)
did not centrally manage 52 existing ESPCs,
collectively valued at $849 million,
effectively. Specifically, AFCEC did not
perform post-award project management,
track project status, verify statutorily
required energy savings, track required
ESPC training, or maintain ESPC
lessons learned. This occurred because
AFCEC officials:
- considered program management of existing ESPC task orders to be an installation responsibility and training to be a Department of Energy (DOE) responsibility,
- did not believe AFCEC could centrally manage ESPC projects with existing resources, and
- focused on meeting Air Force goals to develop additional ESPC projects rather than managing existing projects.
As a result, Air Force officials do not know
whether the 52 existing ESPC projects
achieved contractor-guaranteed energy
savings, which were to be the basis of
payments to the project contractors.
Recommendations
We made nine recommendations to the Commander, AFCEC,
to improve ESPC controls and to validate energy savings
for existing projects. These recommendations included:
revising existing procedures to establish and maintain a
mechanism to track energy savings and ESPC project status
for planned, in-process, completed, and terminated Air Force
projects; developing and maintaining a process to coordinate
with DOE for post-award ESPC technical review services;
accessing DOE ESPC training data of Air Force personnel;
and coordinating ESPC training for Air Force stakeholders.
In addition, we recommended the Commander develop and
maintain an ESPC lessons learned mechanism for Air Force
use, a management plan for AFCEC and Base Civil Engineer
oversight of existing Air Force ESPC projects, and a plan to
provide post-award ESPC technical support using available
Air Force or DOE engineers.
Management Comments and
Our Response
Comments from the Director, AFCEC, addressed all the
specifics of the recommendations and no further comments
are required.
This report is a result of Project No. D2015-D000CI-0200.000.