OEI director visits Huntsville Center

Published May 9, 2016
Paul Robinson, left, Huntsville Center Energy Division chief, and Mike McGhee, Army Office of Energy Initiatives executive director, engage with theHuntsville Center Energy Division team during a program overview at the Center May 6.

Paul Robinson, left, Huntsville Center Energy Division chief, and Mike McGhee, Army Office of Energy Initiatives executive director, engage with theHuntsville Center Energy Division team during a program overview at the Center May 6.

The recently appointed director of the office focused on the Army’s renewable energy program sat with U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville directors, program and project managers, information technology specialists and contracting officials for a synopsis of the Center’s mission and capabilities during a visit here May 6.

Tapped as OEI executive director in January, Mike McGhee met with the Center’s Energy Division team, which works closely with OEI to procure and manage large-scale renewable energy projects bringing energy security to Army installations worldwide.

Huntsville Center’s Energy Division recently teamed with OEI and other agencies to award a large-scale solar array project for Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.

According to Paul Robinson, Huntsville Center Energy Division chief, McGhee’s visit allowed his team to provide more in-depth looks into all Energy Division programs as well as meet with others to facilitate a better understanding of the Center’s mission. 

“We allotted time for Energy Division staff to meet with Mike McGhee, but we also thought it would be an excellent opportunity for him to learn holistically about the Center’s operations,” Robinson said.

Throughout the day, McGhee met with leadership from the Center’s Installation Support and Programs Management (ISPM), Engineering Directorate (ED), and Contracting Directorate (CT), as well as representatives from the Center’s Office of Counsel and Resource Management.

From his first day on the job at OEI, McGhee said it was apparent that the relationship between OEI and Huntsville Center is extremely important to achieving mandates identified in Congress' 2007 National Defense Authorization Act for the Army to consume 25 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

“This is a fantastic group of people that are service oriented and have the Army’s interest at heart and coming here and meeting all the folks is only strengthening my understanding of how valuable Huntsville Center is to us,” McGhee said.

Although the scope of OEI is large-scale renewable energy, McGhee said it’s likely his office and Huntsville Center will expand work on future energy security projects.

“With energy security you need renewable energy as a generating asset but you also need to couple that with a storage component and a microgrid component,” McGhee said.

“What we’re talking with the folks at Huntsville Center about today is how we can fulfill that larger expansion into complete energy security so there is definitely more opportunity with Huntsville Center and our office to work together on projects into the future,” McGhee said.