FORT BLISS, Texas, Sept. 29, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Substantial energy and water resiliency improvements will soon be underway at Fort Bliss as part of a $58.3 million Utility Energy Services Contract (UESC) project awarded by the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville in June 2022. The project, a comprehensive resilient power solution expected to decrease energy and water consumption, and provide improved capability to control energy supply and distribution, was awarded to New Mexico Gas Company (NMGC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Emera Inc., and Energy Systems Group, LLC (ESG), a leading sustainable energy solutions provider and wholly owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CNP).

“Fort Bliss and the Army are leading the way to find partnerships that provide innovative solutions to energy and water resilience, reduction of consumption, and cost savings.” said the Fort Bliss Garrison Commander, COL Jim Brady.

Estimated to save approximately $136.5 million over the performance period, the project scope consists of a micro-grid serving 142 buildings onsite with 102 of those buildings deemed critical to the Fort Bliss mission. The project also includes 15MW Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) with 8MW of battery storage, major LED lighting upgrades, and water resiliency to East Fort Bliss that includes refurbishment of an existing water well and transmission lines connecting the well water supply to East Fort Bliss.

The onsite capabilities being installed as part of this UESC are expected to enhance Fort Bliss’ resiliency efforts, as well as support to the electric utility’s broader service area by supplying more available capacity to serve utility customers during critical peak load events. As a result, Fort Bliss is expected to be able to leverage the cost savings to implement the micro-grid to provide sustained energy for critical operations and fallback positions for America’s warfighters during grid outages.

“Huntsville Center’s Energy Division provides an array of services to help installations and other federal agencies increase their energy resiliency and security, including Utility Energy Services Contracting,” said Patty Mooneyham, the Center’s UESC program manager. “This innovative financing strategy allows organizations to pay for energy-savings upgrades with the cost savings provided by those modifications ultimately saving taxpayers money, helping protect the environment, and defending the nation against cybersecurity attacks.”

“New Mexico Gas Company is proud of its partnership with ESG in offering and delivering energy efficiency improvements to federal installations served by our company,” said Ryan Shell, NMGC President. “Our team is committed to finding customer solutions that produce positive outcomes.”

“ESG applauds New Mexico Gas Company, Fort Bliss, and the Army Corp of Engineers for their dedication to increasing energy resiliency, reliability, and efficiency at our nation’s military installations,” says Steve Smith, Vice President of ESG’s Federal Business Unit. “We are truly honored to be a strategic business partner of the United States Army and New Mexico Gas Company and to provide them a unique, creative approach to the development, construction and on-going maintenance of this mission critical program.”

About New Mexico Gas Company
As the largest natural gas distribution utility in the state, NMGC provides service to more than 540,000 homes and businesses and about 1.3 million people throughout New Mexico. NMGC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Emera Inc. and has more than 700 employees in 26 offices, who are responsible for safely and reliably operating 12,300 miles of pipelines across the state. Visit NMGC’s website at www.nmgco.com.

About Energy Systems Group, LLC
ENERGY SYSTEMS GROUP^®, a wholly owned subsidiary of CenterPoint Energy, Inc., is a leading sustainable energy solutions provider that specializes in energy efficiency, sustainability, resiliency, and infrastructure improvement solutions in the government, education, healthcare, commercial, and industrial sectors. ESG also offers a full range of sustainable infrastructure solutions including waste-to-energy, distributed generation, and renewable energy. To learn more about ESG, visit www.energysystemsgroup.com.

Forward Looking Statement:
This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "potential," "predict," "projection," "should," "target," "will" or other similar words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions of management which are believed to be reasonable at the time made and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Any statements in this news release regarding future events, such as the timing, cost and scope of the work to be performed and the savings therefrom, the expected benefits from such work, including the capacity amount and capacity during grid outages, and any other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release speaks only as of the date of this release. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the provided forward-looking information include risks and uncertainties relating to: (1) the impact of COVID-19; (2) financial market conditions; (3) general economic conditions; (4) the timing and impact of future regulatory and legislative decisions; (5) effects of competition; (6) weather variations; (7) changes in business plans; (8) continued disruptions to the global supply chain and increases in commodity prices; (9) legislative decisions, including tax and developments related to the environment such as global climate change, air emissions, carbon and waste water discharges; (10) ESG’s and CenterPoint Energy’s ability to execute on its initiatives, targets and goals and operations and maintenance goals and (11) other factors, risks and uncertainties discussed in CenterPoint Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, CenterPoint Energy's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2022 and June 30, 2022 and other reports CenterPoint Energy or its subsidiaries may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Media Contact:
Bethany R. Smith, FSMPS, CPSM
ESG Strategic Marketing Leader
brsmith@esg.email