10 U.S.C. § 2920: Energy resilience and energy…

Summary

The Secretary of Defense must make sure that by the end of fiscal year 2030, all energy needed to run each base’s critical missions is available at least 99.9 percent of the time each year. The Secretary will set specific availability levels for different missions, anywhere from 99.9 percent up to 99.9999 percent depending on how important the mission is. The Department can set interim goals before fiscal year 2025. Each military branch and Defense Agency must meet these rules. The Department must work with outside power planners and regulators, find which loads and systems are mission-critical, and plan how to reduce risks. Plans must prefer many different energy sources, favor energy made on the base (like modular generators), encourage microgrids, and use full-time installed power rather than only emergency generators. Bases must list their critical missions, how much energy those missions need, how long that energy would be needed in an emergency, current energy sources and how long they would last, and what backup or new sources could provide uninterrupted power. The military must monitor, measure, and test energy systems and share data when asked. They must run “black start” exercises that cut off off-base power and prove backup systems can start and run critical missions; these exercises can skip housing and some support facilities if possible. The Department will give one policy for these exercises and set a schedule so each military department runs them on at least five installations each year through fiscal year 2032. Each exercise should not last more than five days. Energy and utility contracts must include ways to measure and verify energy use, availability, and reliability. Fuels for aircraft, ships, or motor vehicles are not covered. If by the end of fiscal year 2027 the Secretary thinks the Department cannot meet the 2030 goals, the Secretary must send a report to the Senate and House Armed Services Committees within 90 days after that fiscal year ends. The report must say how big the shortfall is, why it will happen, any legal, technical, or money problems, how readiness or defense posture will be affected, and any other relevant facts. Short definitions: availability means how much energy is ready when needed; black start exercise means testing startup of on-base backup power after cutting off off-base power; critical mission means the most essential base tasks for national defense (examples include headquarters, airfields, munitions, radars, cyber or space facilities); energy means electricity, natural gas, steam, chilled water, and heated water; installation means a military installation as defined elsewhere.

Title 10, §2920

Armed Forces, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Energy Resilience Measures.—

(1)The Secretary of Defense shall, by the end of fiscal year 2030, provide that 100 percent of the energy load required to maintain the critical missions of each installation have a minimum level of availability of 99.9 percent per fiscal year.

(2)The Secretary of Defense shall issue standards establishing levels of availability relative to specific critical missions, with such standards providing a range of not less than 99.9 percent availability per fiscal year and not more than 99.9999 percent availability per fiscal year, depending on the criticality of the mission.

(3)The Secretary may establish interim goals to take effect prior to fiscal year 2025 to ensure the requirements under this subsection are met.

(4)The Secretary of each military department and the head of each Defense Agency shall ensure that their organizations meet the requirements of this subsection.

(5)The Secretary shall establish internal processes to support coordination with external regulatory and planning entities involved in grid reliability, transmission infrastructure, and long-term energy planning, in order to assess and mitigate risks to defense-critical installations, advance the energy security objectives of the Department, and comply with statutory mandates under this section.

(6)Coordination under paragraph (5)—

(A)shall include identification of mission-critical loads and infrastructure dependencies and load profiles at or near military installations; and

(B)may include consultation with relevant Federal and non-Federal entities.

(b)Planning.—

(1)The Secretary of Defense shall require the Secretary of each military department and the head of each Defense Agency to plan for the provision of energy resilience and energy security for installations.

(2)Planning under paragraph (1) shall—

(A)promote the use of multiple and diverse sources of energy, with an emphasis favoring energy resources originating on the installation such as modular generation;

(B)promote installing microgrids to ensure the energy security and energy resilience of critical missions; and

(C)favor the use of full-time, installed energy sources rather than emergency generation.

(c)Development of Information.—

The planning required by subsection (b) shall identify each of the following for each installation:

(1)The critical missions of the installation.

(2)The energy requirements of those critical missions.

(3)The duration that those energy requirements are likely to be needed in the event of a disruption or emergency.

(4)The current source of energy provided to those critical missions.

(5)The duration that the currently provided energy would likely be available in the event of a disruption or emergency.

(6)Any currently available sources of energy that would provide uninterrupted energy to critical missions in the event of a disruption or emergency.

(7)Alternative sources of energy that could be developed to provide uninterrupted energy to critical missions in the event of a disruption or emergency.

(d)Testing and Measuring.—

(1)(A)The Secretary of Defense shall require the Secretary of each military department and head of each Defense Agency to conduct monitoring, measuring, and testing to provide the data necessary to comply with this section.

(B)Any data provided under subparagraph (A) shall be made available to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment upon request.

(2)(A)The Secretary of Defense shall require that black start exercises be conducted to assess the energy resilience and energy security of installations for periods established to evaluate the ability of the installation to perform critical missions without access to off-installation energy resources.

(B)A black start exercise conducted under subparagraph (A) may exclude, if technically feasible, housing areas, commissaries, exchanges, and morale, welfare, and recreation facilities.

(C)The Secretary of Defense shall—

(i)provide uniform policy for the military departments and the Defense Agencies with respect to conducting black start exercises; and

(ii)establish a schedule of black start exercises for the military departments and the Defense Agencies, with each military department and Defense Agency scheduled to conduct such an exercise on a number of installations each year sufficient to allow that military department or Defense Agency to meet the goals of this section, but in any event not fewer than five installations each year for each military department through fiscal year 2032.

(D)(i)Except as provided in clause (ii), the Secretary of each military department shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, conduct black start exercises in accordance with the schedule provided for in subparagraph (C)(ii), with any such exercise not to last longer than five days.

(ii)The Secretary of a military department may conduct more black start exercises than those identified in the schedule provided for in subparagraph (C)(ii).

(e)Contract Requirements.—

For contracts for energy and utility services, the Secretary of Defense shall—

(1)specify methods and processes to measure, manage, and verify compliance with subsection (a); and

(2)ensure that such contracts include requirements appropriate to ensure energy resilience and energy security, including requirements for metering to measure, manage, and verify energy consumption, availability, and reliability consistent with this section and the energy resilience metrics and standards under section 2911(b) of this title.

(f)Exception.—

This section does not apply to fuels used in aircraft, vessels, or motor vehicles.

(g)Report.—

If by the end of fiscal year 2027, the Secretary determines that the Department will be unable to meet the requirements under subsection (a), not later than 90 days after the end of such fiscal year, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a report detailing—

(1)the projected shortfall;

(2)reasons for the projected shortfall;

(3)any statutory, technological, or monetary impediments to achieving such requirements;

(4)any impact to readiness or ability to meet the national defense posture; and

(5)any other relevant information as the Secretary considers appropriate.

(h)Definitions.—

In this section: (1)

(2)The term “black start exercise” means an exercise in which delivery of energy provided from off an installation is terminated before backup generation assets on the installation are turned on. Such an exercise shall—

(A)determine the ability of the backup systems to start independently, transfer the load, and carry the load until energy from off the installation is restored;

(B)align organizations with critical missions to coordinate in meeting critical mission requirements;

(C)validate mission operation plans, such as continuity of operations plans;

(D)identify infrastructure interdependencies; and

(E)verify backup electric power system performance.

(3)The term “critical mission”—

(A)means those aspects of the missions of an installation, including mission essential operations, that are critical to successful performance of the strategic national defense mission;

(B)may include operational headquarters facilities, airfields and supporting infrastructure, harbor facilities supporting naval vessels, munitions production and storage facilities, missile fields, radars, satellite control facilities, cyber operations facilities, space launch facilities, operational communications facilities, and biological defense facilities; and

(C)does not include military housing (including privatized military housing), morale, welfare, and recreation facilities, exchanges, commissaries, or privately owned facilities.

(4)The term “energy” means electricity, natural gas, steam, chilled water, and heated water.

(5)The term “installation” has the meaning given the term “military installation” in section 2801(c)(4) of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2025—Subsec. (a)(5), (6). Pub. L. 119–60 added pars. (5) and (6). 2024—Subsec. (d)(2)(C)(ii). Pub. L. 118–159, § 313, substituted “2032” for “2027”. Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 118–159, § 314(a), substituted “2027” for “2029” in introductory provisions.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Pilot Program on Procurement of Utility Services for Installations of the Department of Defense Through Areawide Contracts Pub. L. 119–60, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2888, Dec. 18, 2025, 139 Stat. 1332, provided that: “(a) Pilot Program Required.—Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec 18, 2025], the Secretary of Defense shall establish a pilot program (in this section referred to as the ‘pilot program’) for the purposes of procuring utility services through an areawide contract with a public utility provider for any utility services that support energy resilience and mission readiness of a military installation. “(b) Deadline for Contracts.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of each military department shall enter into at least one areawide contract with a public utility provider pursuant to the pilot program. “(c) Public-private Partnerships.—The Secretary shall carry out the pilot program by entering into one or more public-private partnerships through an areawide contract entered into under the pilot program. “(d) Competition.—In carrying out the pilot program, the Secretary shall, in accordance with part 6.302 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation, develop—“(1) a justification and approval template to be used by all acquisition commands of the military departments when entering into an areawide contract pursuant to the pilot program; and “(2) a process for granting waivers with respect to the requirements of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation. “(e) Termination Date.—The authority of the Secretary of Defense to carry out the pilot program shall terminate on the date that is one year after the date on which the Secretary commences the pilot program. “(f) Reporting Requirement.—Not later than 90 days after the date on which the pilot program is terminated pursuant to subsection (e), the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees [Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives] a report that includes—“(1) an analysis of the pilot program, including any efficiencies, benefits, and cost-savings associated with utilizing areawide contracts under the pilot program to procure utility services from a public utility provider; and “(2) proposed solutions, including recommended legislative text and modifications to the Federal Acquisition Regulation or policy guidance of the Department of Defense, to overcome any remaining legal and policy hurdles that the Secretary identifies as inhibiting adherence to and implementation of section 2811(b) of the Military

Construction

Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (division B of Public Law 118–31; 10 U.S.C. 2920 note). “(g) Definitions.—In this section:“(1) The terms ‘areawide contract’, ‘energy resilience’, and ‘utility service’ have the meanings given such terms in section 2811(b)(3) of such Act. “(2) The term ‘military installation’ has the meaning given such term in section 2801 of title 10, United States Code.” Department of Defense Infrastructure Resilience and Readiness Pub. L. 118–31, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2811(b), Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 748, provided that: “(1) Authority.—The Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of the military department concerned may utilize existing areawide contracts to procure utility services from a utility service supplier—“(A) to support installation energy resilience and mission readiness; “(B) for the protection of critical infrastructure of the Department of Defense located at a military installation; and “(C) to achieve energy resilience at military installations through implementation of utility system infrastructure projects, to include facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization of such infrastructure. “(2) Sunset.—The authority under this subsection shall terminate on September 30, 2032. “(3) Definitions.—In this section:“(A) Areawide contract.—The term ‘areawide contract’ means a contract entered into between the General Services Administration and a utility service supplier under section 501 of title 40, United States Code, to procure the utility service needs of Federal agencies within the franchise territory of the supplier. “(B) Energy resilience.—The term ‘energy resilience’ has the meaning given the term in section 101(e) of title 10, United States Code. “(C) Franchise territory.—The term ‘franchise territory’ means a geographical area that a utility service supplier has a right to serve based upon a franchise granted by an independent regulatory body, a certificate of public convenience and necessity, or other legal means. “(D) Utility service.—The term ‘utility service’—“(i) means a utility or service described in section 2872a(b) of title 10, United States Code; “(ii) includes the services supplied by a utility service supplier described in an areawide contract such as connection, change, disconnection, continue service, line extension, alteration or relocation, metering, and special facilities, including primary generation, backup generation, microgrid controls, charging capabilities, and any supporting infrastructure; and “(iii) includes ancillary services, including total maintenance and repair, major restoration and repair, studies, and any other services, as appropriate. “(E) Utility service supplier.—The term ‘utility service supplier’ means an entity that supplies a utility service. “(F) Utility system.—The term ‘utility system’ has the meaning given the term in subsections (i)(1)(A) and (i)(2)(A) of section 2688 of title 10, United States Code.”

§2920 Energy Resilience and Energy Security Measures on Military Installations