For years the Department Of Defense has been discussing the need to turn to alternative, environmentally conscience energy sources in order to make the military more “green” and reduce its reliance on foreign sources of fossil fuels. Many also hoped it that increased military spending on green energy would help the young sector grow into a full and competitive industry. To accomplish this goal, the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act of 2009 made millions of federal government dollars available to military services for the acquisition of renewable energy sources.
One area that the Navy has shown particular interest is in solar power, which can be used on Marine Corps and Navy installations to save money and reduce their energy footprint. Just last September the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Pacific paid $500 million to purchase solar power plants on military bases across the state of Hawaii. However, reporter Matthew M. Burke of Stars and Stripes reports that the Navy is bungling its solar power dreams and was recently heavily chastised for it in a report by the Department Of Defense Inspector General.
The report claims that the Navy’s purchase of solar power plants for its military installations was conducted without due diligence regarding their cost-effectiveness. Since the funds for the solar power programs came from the American Recovery And Reinvestment Act, the Navy was legally obligated to determine if the project would be cost-effective over its lifetime, something they did not do. Now the Inspector General believes that the Navy “will not recover $25.1 million of the $50.8 million invested” in three solar projects on 12 Navy and Marine Corps installations in Hawaii and California.
The report makes a number of recommendations concerning the Navy’s mismanaged solar power projects. First, the Navy should find cost offsets elsewhere in order to cover some of $25 million dollars in losses expected to occur because of the project, a tall order given the already shrinking Department Of Defense budget. Second, the Inspector General suggests investigating the managers of the project to determine if the error was so egregious that disciplinary action is warranted.
Fortunately, renewable energy spending is unlikely to face a serious hit due to this incident. However, it is likely that in the near term contractors working on military solar projects will face extra levels of scrutiny.
Mike Jones is a researcher, writer, and analyst on national and international security. He lives in the DC area.
