MEDIA CONTEST: Ellsworth team nationally recognized

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  • News Entry 8
ACC MEDIA CONTEST --  During the 2006 Federal Energy and Water Management Awards ceremony Oct. 5 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., an Ellsworth team of five was among those recognized for their accomplishments.

This United States Department of Energy award recognizes the annual achievements in the category of energy efficiency and energy management. Ellsworth's accomplishments were recognized in the small group classification.

The five-person 28th Civil Engineer Squadron Energy Management Team consisted of Dennis Svalstad, 28th CES system engineering chief; Chris Tinsley, 28th CES engineering technician; Jon Rexroad, 28th CES engineering technician; Chuck Miller, Montana Dakota Resources project manager; and Lisa Teeslink, MDR assistant energy representative. The collective efforts of the energy management team saved Ellsworth more than $470,000 in total energy costs for fiscal 2005.

"I feel the biggest contributing factors to our team's receipt of this award are the exemplary utility energy services contract partnership between Ellsworth and the Montana Dakota Utilities (a subsidiary of Montana Dakota Resources Inc.), our utilization of the Keep a Student in School Program, the Ellsworth soft-sell approach and Ellsworth's efforts to obtain cost based utility rates," said Mr. Svalstad.

The team helps address this "by hiring local college students to alleviate the critical manpower shortage in our unit while providing valuable work experience for the students," said Mr. Svalstad.

UESC, sometimes referred to as demand side management contracts, offer a unique partnership with local utilities whereby projects are mutually agreed upon. The goal of these contracts is energy-cost savings that finances the entire project in 10 years or less (15 years or less if financing is involved). One such project was the recent $4.3 million UESC task order that encompassed 100 projects in 50 buildings.

"These projects are saving Ellsworth more than $472,000 annually in utility costs," Mr. Svalstad said. "The partnership between MDU and Ellsworth on projects like this in combination with the energy management efforts of the team has resulted in Ellsworth repeatedly exceeding Air Force energy consumption and cost reduction goals."

The 28th Civil Engineer Squadron goes further in their commitments to producing overall savings for Ellsworth by being an active participant in the Keep a Student in School Program. This hiring process further preserves Air Force resources as it faces budget challenges as the demand to recapitalize and modernize air, space and cyber space systems increases.

Mr. Rexroad, a School of Mines mechanical engineering sophomore student who has been an Energy Management Team member for the past three years, agreed.

"The biggest rewards of working here at Ellsworth have been the work experience and the contacts I've made with other people," Mr. Rexroad said. "There are definitely challenges in what we do, but it feels really good to be recognized through getting this award."

From the first Ellsworth- MDU UESC project, a propane air mix plant completed Dec. 1998, which still saves Ellsworth more than a million dollars per year, the team has established a trend of overcoming challenges and consistently producing savings.

"The team's biggest overall challenge was meeting Ellsworth's changing energy requirements in today's extremely volatile energy market," said Anthony Halsey, 28th CES engineering technician, author of awards package and a Master of Business Administration student at National American University. "Receipt of this award is very exciting for the members of Ellsworth Energy Management Team because it represents combined efforts of several carefully executed plans that have provided outstanding energy-savings benefits."

Contractors pour concrete at Ellsworth's propane air mix plant Sept. 29 in preparation for the installation of four new tanks, each capable of holding 60,000 gallons of propane. The plant, completed in Dec. 1998, was part of the first contract partnership between Ellsworth and Montana Dakota Utilities (a subsidiary of Montana Dakota Resources Inc.) and still saves Ellsworth more than $1 million annually. Contracts like these are part of why the 28th Civil Engineer Squadron Energy Management Team was recognized in the small group category Oct. 5 during the 2006 Federal Energy and Water Management Awards ceremony in Washington. The team was also coined by Secretary of the Air Force Honorable Michael Wynne and Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John Corley. The five-person team chief, Dennis Svalstad, will also receive a Federal Energy and Water management Certificate of Recognition for Energy Efficiency/Energy Program Management for his nomination in the individual category.