The Secretary of the Navy recently awarded two Marine Corps bases, including Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, the 2021 Energy Excellence Award for outstanding contributions to energy security, new technology, innovation, program management and efficiency within the federal government. 

“This is a tremendous honor for MCLB Albany,” Col. Michael Fitzgerald, commanding officer, MCLB Albany, said. “This signifies our ability to be energy resilient and self-sufficient for years to come, providing cost savings we pass on to our tenants and taxpayers. I am extremely proud of all the hard work the of the Marines, Sailors and Civilian-Marines have done to win this award.”

This recognition is yet another example of how Marine Corps installations remain dedicated to improving energy security by modernizing infrastructure, building energy resilience and reducing energy intensity. 

“I’m honored to extend my congratulations to this year’s Marine Corps winners,” said Navy Capt. Michael Kenney, facilities director, Marine Corps Installations Command. “These installations are pioneering new, innovative ways to build energy security and ensure reliable access to energy where and when needed for mission success and upholding a tradition of energy resilience.” 

The two bases represent the winners in the small and large installation categories. MCLB Albany won in the FY 2021 SECNAV Energy Excellence Award’s small installation category for its achievements in policy implementation, reductions in energy and water intensity, cybersecurity and overall commitment to energy security planning. 

The base nearly reached its goal in FY 2020 of covering all critical building energy loads in the event of an outage by increasing its sources of on-site generation. 

“This award is a tribute to the Installation & Environment team’s dedication to reduce energy cost aboard the installation,” Hubert “Ski" Smigelski, who recently retired as the deputy director for the base’s I&E Division, said. “MCLB Albany energy team continues to strives to be the leaders in both Marine Corps and Department of the Navy with our energy program.”

MCLB Albany has completed an 8.5-megawatt smart grid-enabled biomass steam-to-electric generator to complement 4.1MW from dual landfill-gas generators and 8MW of back-up generators, as well as hosting a 31MW solar farm providing additional resilience and emissions benefits to the regional grid. 

A few buildings on base have solar panels on rooftops. Several buildings on the base also benefit from its ground source heat pump systems that reduce electric consumption in those buildings by 50 percent and eliminates a water-cooling requirement.

MCLB Albany reduced its energy use intensity by more than 29 percent by the end of FY 2020.  

Marine Corps Base Camp Butler won the award in the large installation category for its commitment to sustained excellence in energy program management, improving resilience and reliability and overall facility management. Camp Butler has led the way in pioneering Energy Resilience Readiness Exercises, hosting an ERRE working group and executing several building-level ERREs throughout 2020 as part of a “crawl, walk, run” approach to mitigate potential threats to mission assurance. 

The U.S. Marine Corps commends these two bases on their achievements and their dedication to energy security and improving the reliability, resiliency and efficiency of mission critical assets.