California Energy Commission, Engineering & Environmental Technical Assistance and Peak Workload Contracts
In May 2012, Aspen was awarded a fifth consecutive three-year contract with the California Energy Commission to support peak workload periods in the areas of siting, transmission, and environmental protection. Aspen has been providing environmental, engineering, and energy planning services to the Energy Commission for more than ten years. In that time, Aspen has worked on over 100 power plant siting cases, 32 energy planning projects, preparation of the annual Integrated Energy Policy Report, and is currently supporting the Energy Commission in the development of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan. Below is a summary of the services Aspen has provided for each of the three-year contracts.
Siting, Transmission, and Environmental Protection Peak Workload for the California Energy Commission (2009-2012). Under this contract, Aspen has managed 300 work authorizations and 63 subcontractors, with a total contract value $24.2 million. The contract includes the evaluation of energy facilities applications such as: certification of new gas-fired and renewable power plants and related transmission lines, compliance monitoring of permitted facilities, designation of transmission corridors, development of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, and other activities in the areas of environmental impact assessment, engineering, and related regulatory matters. This contract also featured significant effort and quick turnaround on fast-track solar power facilities in the southern California desert region.
Engineering and Environmental Technical Assistance to Support the Energy Facility Planning and Licensing Program (2006-2009). Aspen was the prime contractor to support the Energy Facility Planning and Licensing Programs. Aspen managed this multi-year, multi-task, statewide contract, managing 547 Work Authorizations, 96 subcontractors, and a total contract value of $23.5 million. The Aspen Team was involved in approximately 56 siting cases throughout California during the three year period. Aspen also provided staffing support in the areas of senior project managers, administrative clerks, and technical writers. Besides siting support, Aspen also supported the Energy Planning and Engineering departments at the Energy Commission including the Electricity Assessment, Natural Gas, Generation, and Engineering Offices. Aspen played a major role in the preparation of the Integrated Energy Policy Report.
Engineering and Environmental Technical Assistance to Support the Energy Facility Planning and Licensing Program (2003-2006). Aspen was the prime contractor for this contract, which included managing more than 200 Work Authorizations, 66 subcontractors, and a total contract value of $20 million. This contract included the continued support of power plant siting review, as well as support in preparing a variety of energy planning and policy studies. The energy planning tasks included support on multiple topics, including: Biennial Integrated Energy Policy Report and Update; Environmental Performance Report; Petroleum Infrastructure Environmental Performance; water-energy relationship; global climate change; marine resource impingement and entrainment studies at local coastal power plants; border energy supply and demand; water quality and supply assessments; and other studies.
Review of Power Plant AFCs for the California Energy Commission (2000-2003). Aspen was the prime contractor to support the Energy Commission in reviewing the engineering and environmental aspects of all new power plants in California. With almost 600 Work Authorizations, Aspen worked on 43 power plant projects throughout California. The Aspen Team was originally made up of 50 staff members from Aspen Environmental Group, supplemented by key experts from 25 subcontractor companies that ranged from a one-person expert consulting firm to a firm of 850 employees. As a result of the substantial peak workload and the need to have key experts in a variety of fields, Aspen proactively searched for additional highly qualified companies that could supplement the original Aspen Team, growing the team to nearly 80 subcontractors by the end of the contract.