The National Nuclear Security Administration did not comply with an energy savings performance contract from 2018 to 2021 at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, an audit from the Office of Inspector General said.
The DOE Inspector General’s audit reported that savings identified in an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) with renewable energy firm NORESCO “did not reflect the site conditions at the Pantex Plant.”
For example, NORESCO included energy savings for Pantex buildings that had been demolished or sold, and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) did not address site changes in the contract.
“NNSA approved $6,705,006 in payments for guaranteed savings without validating that the cost-effective energy savings were actually achieved,” deputy inspector general Jennifer Quinones said in the memorandum of the audit report.
Among the issues identified in the audit, Pantex failed to use energy efficient light bulbs recommended by NORESCO and also failed to maintain the plant’s steam distribution system — which carries steam throughout the plant for water-heating and industrial purposes — after NORESCO repaired or replaced some parts of it.
An ESPC is a contract between a federal agency and a private vendor to improve the agency’s energy efficiency, according to a DOE release.
The report attributed many of the noncompliant site conditions to changing personnel at the NNSA Contracting Office and the Pantex Plant, and a lack of ESPC federal oversight some time between 2018 and 2021, the audit said.
The audit said NNSA’s Contracting Office took steps to fix these inefficiencies starting October 2023, when it stopped service activity for NORESCO and terminated the contract buyout with incremental payments.
Canceling the contract “will save American taxpayers approximately $2.5 million,” Quinones said.
