Energy Awareness Month underway: SECAF, CSAF urge energy conservation

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Ryan DeCamp
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  October stands as the federal government's Energy Awareness Month and the Air Force is renewing its commitment to saving power.

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff, lead the charge calling on Airmen worldwide to think of ways to conserve and reduce power usage.

In a Sept. 24 letter to Airmen, the service's two most senior leaders announced a year-long theme entitled, "A New Culture: Energy as an Operations Enabler." The theme will run through fiscal 2011.

"This theme highlights the ties between energy and mission success by raising awareness of the energy costs associated with our daily activities," the letter stated. "We must continue to emphasize the pillars of the Air Force's Energy Plan which are reducing demand, increasing supply and changing our culture."

Luke Air Force Base has taken steps to meet these three pillars.

The base plans to build the largest solar array in the Defense Department. The array will soak up enough sun to create 15-megawatts worth of electricity. That amount of power is enough to meet half of the base's energy needs.

The project will join the current 325 kilowatt solar array built into the base exchange's roof. Construction on the new six-month project is expected to begin in January 2011. The array is planned to be completed and begin creating power over the summer. The summer completion date comes as electricity use through air conditioning is highest, thanks to temperatures that routinely hit 115 degrees.

Luke joined with Arizona Public Service and SunPower for the facility.

The agreement locks in a constant cost for that amount of Luke's electricity. According to current estimates, the base will save millions of dollars in energy costs over the next two decades. It will also prevent 19,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

The Air Force's leaders ended their letter by thanking Airmen for their service and reinforcing the importance of improved energy usage.

"Achieving our energy goals requires sustained effort, a systematic approach, determined leadership, and a firm commitment from all of us to identify and implement workable solutions," the letter said. "Through commitment, innovation, teamwork and discipline, we will free up funding for our other Air Force priorities and enhance our energy security."