My Summer Beach Reading: A Guided Tour of Federal 3rd Party Financed RE Projects

 In energy conference after energy conference this year, the question has been asked  “So how exactly are we, industry, supposed to develop large scale renewable energy projects at federal facilities using private capital?  Is there no guide???”.  Well, now all questions will be answered with the publication of the aptly named draft Federal Renewable Energy Guide: Developing Large-Scale Renewable Energy Projects at Federal Facilities Using Private Capital, by those crazy kids over at the Federal Energy Management Program and the Department of Energy.  And this is no edict handed down from on high.  Everyone who has complained about the lack of specificity will be able to remedy that, personally.  According to Boyan Kovaicic at FEMP:

In support of the Obama Administrations all-out, all-of-the above approach to developing every domestic energy resource, the Energy Department today announced the publication of the draft Federal Renewable Energy Guide: Developing Large-Scale Renewable Energy Projects at Federal Facilities Using Private Capital in the Federal Register for industry and agency comment. This Guide provides a project development framework to allow the Federal government, private developer, and financier to coordinate on large scale renewable energy projects that will help achieve the Federal renewable energy goals. This Federal renewable energy guide underscores the extensive effort by the Administration to increase energy from renewable sources.

The Guide for Developing Large Scale Renewable Energy Projects at Federal Facilities Using Private Capital is available in the Federal Register and is open to public comment until July 2, 2012. The Federal Register Notice contains specific questions from FEMP.  Please e-mail comments to FEMPLargeREGuide@ee.doe.gov.

Beyond providing a development framework, this Guide is intended to provide a general resource that will begin to develop the Federal employee’s understanding of the project developer’s operating environment and the private sector understands of the Federal environment. Because the vast majority of the investment required meeting the goals for large-scale renewable energy projects will come from the private sector, this Guide has been organized to match Federal processes with typical phases of commercial project development.

The Energy Department's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. Learn more about how the Energy Department provides the services, tools, and expertise to federal agencies to help them achieve their federal energy management goals at the FEMP website.

I encourage you all to logon, download and critique the 94 page document.  Clearly, we are not the first to do so, given that this is version 5.23.  You only have until 2 July, so get cracking.  Thanks to David McGeown for this tip.  Keep the cards and letters coming!  Dan Nolan