Air Force seeks energy innovation ideas Published July 21, 2017 By Air Force Installations, Environment and Energy WASHINGTON -- The Air Force is seeking business solutions to energy needs for installations through a Request for Information published today on the Federal Business Opportunities website. “We are asking industry to tell us how they could provide the energy capabilities we need to assure the mission,” Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety and Infrastructure, Mark Correll, said. The concept, “Energy-as-a-Service,” seeks both general business model frameworks and specific ideas to implement this concept at two potential pilot installations, Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, and Hanscom AFB, Massachusetts. “Thomas Edison did it; he sold light rather than power. As Airmen, we need energy to fly, fight, and win, but we aren’t necessarily the ones best suited to manage that portfolio,” Correll said. The “as a service” business model is not new, but it would represent a new approach for the U.S. Air Force, which relies on various different acquisition authorities to procure and manage its energy services and commodities. Correll has championed this approach as a way to more effectively meet an installation’s needs for efficiency, reliability, and resilience. “The goal is to bring world-class thinking to the table to see how Energy-as-a-Service might be carried out. In asking for both general and installation-specific feedback, we hope to get a realistic look at how this could be accomplished in an Air Force installation setting,” said Shawn Bennett, who has been leading the development of this concept for the Air Force. The Request for Information can be found on FedBizOpps at https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DLA/J3/DESC/SP0600-17-0424/listing.html or through the Air Force Energy web site at http://www.safie.hq.af.mil/energy. The Air Force and Defense Logistics Agency-Energy plan to hold an Industry Forum this August at Energy Exchange 2017, Tampa, Florida. Please check back on FBO for further details on this event. The Request for Information, SP0600-17-0424, is open until Sept. 15, 2017. For more information, email dlaenergy.rteam@dla.mil.