Dive Brief:
- The U.S. General Services Administration has signed a multiyear contract with Homefield Energy, a subsidiary of integrated power company Vistra Energy, to supply federal facilities across Illinois with carbon-free electricity.
- Wind energy accounts for nearly 80% of this contract, Homefield Energy said in a news release Tuesday. The retail electric supplier will provide emissions-free electricity through renewable energy certificates from power generation facilities covering 15 states that fall in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator region across the Midwest and parts of Canada, it said.
- The RECs would come from power generation facilities that have gone online on or after Oct. 1, 2021, per the release.
Dive Insight:
The GSA says it is committed to working with federal agencies to source 100% carbon-free electricity in all government buildings by 2030. That target aligns with President Biden’s 2021 executive order that requires the federal government to use its scale and procurement power to achieve this objective by the end of this decade. To reach these goals, carbon-free electricity must be produced from renewable energy sources like wind and solar in the same Emissions and Generation Resource Integrated Database, or eGRID, where the facility is located, the agency says.
Earlier this year, the GSA signed a memorandum of understanding with electric service provider El Paso Electric to provide carbon-free electricity to federal facilities in West Texas and southern New Mexico, with EPE saying it has pledged to achieve an 80% carbon-free energy supply by 2035.
“Right now, we’re buying about 54% of electricity that’s carbon-free,” Elliot Doomes, commissioner of the GSA’s Public Buildings Service, said at the RETCON Conference in April 2024. The PBS owns or leases over 8,800 assets and maintains more than 370 million rentable square feet of workspace for 1.1 million federal employees across the U.S.
Separately, to help federal buildings accelerate their path to net-zero emissions, the GSA said earlier this month that it will test 17 sustainable technologies for building envelopes and enclosures, HVAC systems, on-site renewables and occupant comfort and building health.
Funds from the Inflation Reduction Act are helping the GSA further the use of smart building technologies that can reduce emissions, boost efficiency and enhance security across real estate, Doomes said. “By leveraging public-private partnerships, the GSA’s sustainable buildings portfolio will grow to more than 130 million square feet, covering two-thirds of our portfolio, Doomes said.
Homefield Energy serves businesses and homes in central and southern Illinois, according to its website.
GSA is an existing Homefield Energy customer and the contract announced for the MISO region would be a springboard for the agency to meet its goals, Gabe Castro, senior vice president of business markets for Homefield Energy, said in a statement.
The GSA’s nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, includes over 900,000 square feet in Illinois, per the release. Through federal contracts, the agency oversees over $100 billion in products and services to deliver technology services across dozens of federal agencies, it said.
