Can carbon emission credits be applied to ESPC projects energy cost savings?
A. If an agency determines that it can sell “excess” emission credits resulting from an ESPC project that reduced a facility’s on-site emissions, the proceeds of that sale could be considered energy-related cost savings and could be used as a component of an ESPC project’s total savings. A federal agency’s sale of its emission credits is a new and uncharted area from a technical, financial, and legal perspective, and FEMP does not have authority to establish policy or pricing guidance in that area. Q. What are ESCO “markups?” How do I negotiate the ESCO markup? A. Markups pay for an ESCO’s indirect costs, plus general & administration costs and profit. DOE’s Super Energy Savings Performance Contract includes a maximum ceiling price for each ESCO’s markups in contract Table B-1. The markup ceilings are specified for each energy conservation measure (ECM). Agencies may negotiate the markup percentage for each ECM. Additionally, DOE’s Super ESPC contract includes Table B-2, which defines
