The greening of the Air Force has spread to West Texas, where the 17th Training Wing at Goodfellow Air Force Base plans to construct a 1.5 mega watt photovoltaic plant. Mike Noret, the base’s civil engineer, told the Daily Report that Goodfellow’s “peak load in the winter time might go up to about two mega watts; [in the] summer time that size of a plant would probably take care of half of our load.” The Texas base is just beginning its foray into greening, developing a statement of work with prospective contractors in preparation for a request for proposals.
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
