The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) said this week it will partner with a major utility company to provide renewable energy for five military installations across North Carolina and South Carolina.
The DoD has signed on with Duke Energy’s Green Source Advantage (GSA) program to power U.S. Army Fort Liberty, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina, and Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.
The $248 million contract will provide an estimated 135 megawatts and approximately 4.8 million megawatt-hours of renewable energy in both states over a 15-year delivery period. It will be generated from two newly constructed off-site solar facilities in South Carolina. The facilities, which are expected to become operational in the fourth quarter of 2026, will be developed, owned and operated by energyRe.
“This is a significant step forward,” said Brendan Owens, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment and DoD’s Chief Sustainability Officer. “By supporting the construction of new clean, renewable energy, we are enhancing our resilience in support of the warfighter and DoD’s mission. We are also supporting President Biden’s ambitious energy, jobs, and American manufacturing goals.”
Duke Energy’s GSA program supports renewable energy development, providing large nonresidential customers the opportunity to offset their power purchases by securing renewable energy from projects connected to the Duke Energy grid.
Customers receive the renewable energy certificates generated by the projects and they are credited for the solar power the facility generates against their energy purchased from the Duke Energy grid.
Andrew Mayock, Federal Chief Sustainability Officer at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said, “DoD is leading by example on climate change in ways that will spur new clean electricity production, create good-paying jobs, increase our resilience to climate change, and enhance our national security.”
The DoD said it will continue to seek partnerships that allow the agency to achieve President Biden’s carbon-free energy goals and build a robust, clean, and domestically based electricity supply chain by 2030.