Energy Action Month: Modern Technologies Strengthen Army Reserve Readiness and Energy Security
During Energy Action Month, the U.S. Army Reserve highlights significant advancements in energy efficiency, resilience, and cybersecurity that directly support this year’s theme: Secure Energy. Ready Forces. American Dominance. Across the enterprise, facilities are implementing modern technologies, strengthening infrastructure, and establishing strategic partnerships that ensure the Army Reserve can enable power projection, operate through contested environments, and outpace adversaries in energy innovation.
At Fort Hunter Liggett, the installation recently secured a Self‑Generation Incentive Program award from California utility provider PG&E, strengthening its expanding portfolio of on-site generation and battery storage projects. “Securing this SGIP incentive is a major milestone for Fort Hunter Liggett and a validation of our long-term commitment to resilient power,” said Alex Hui, Resource Efficiency Manager, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Hunter Liggett. “The battery system installed through our microgrid project is already strengthening installation reliability, and this incentive helps accelerate California’s transition to distributed energy resources while reducing our own operational costs. Receiving half of the $824,160 award upfront, with performance-based payments to follow, shows how federal and state partners can work together to deliver meaningful energy resilience.”
At the 63rd Readiness Division (RD), an ambitious modernization effort at the Corpus Christi Army Reserve Center is already delivering measurable results. The Army Reserve partnered with the Army Reserve Installation Management Directorate (ARIMD) to replace an aging chiller/fan coil system with a geothermal heat pump system designed by Turner Ramirez Architects. Since coming online in August 2025, the system has reduced electrical use and costs by 31% over 2024 operations.
The 63rd RD is also driving enterprise-wide efficiency through deployment of 45 infrared (IR) thermometer guns to Area Facility Operations Specialists across the seven-state footprint. These devices enable fast, safe, and non-contact temperature measurement, enhancing diagnostics for HVAC, electrical systems, mechanical equipment, cold storage, and building envelope assessments. The IR guns will quickly identify inefficiencies, verify system performance, diagnose failing electrical components, monitor mechanical wear, and pinpoint insulation or air leakage issues. This ultimately reduces downtime, prevents system failures, and improves energy efficiency.
The Army Reserve is advancing energy resilience efforts in the Pacific through a $3 million demonstration project at the Kaoru Moto Wailuku Army Reserve Center on Maui. Funded by the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP), the Department of War’s (DOW) program for validating emerging technologies, the project is being led by Idaho National Laboratory in partnership with the 9th Mission Support Command. The demonstration combines a 1.2-megawatt-hour Eos Z3 zinc-halide aqueous liquid battery, and a 106-kilowatt photovoltaic solar array and localized microgrid controls. The nonflammable, long-duration energy storage system is designed to provide more than 10 hours of continuous power at its full rated output.
Project officials will assess whether the integrated system can sustain critical functions during utility outages and contribute to the Army Reserve’s goal of maintaining mission capability for up to 14 days without commercial power. Teams are on site this month conducting site acceptance testing and final commissioning after completing installation of the battery and solar infrastructure.
The multiyear evaluation, scheduled to continue through January 2028, will examine the system’s performance, durability, and safety in Maui’s hot, humid, and salt-laden coastal environment. Those conditions can accelerate corrosion and degrade electronic equipment, making the site a significant test of the technology’s suitability for use at installations in tropical and remote locations.
Data from this project will help inform future Army Reserve energy planning, particularly for smaller facilities across the Pacific. The findings may also support wider DOW consideration of long-duration energy storage systems as a means to strengthen installation resilience and operational readiness.
ESTCP is supporting software‑driven HVAC optimization across the Army Reserve through the Extremum Seeking Control–Real-Time Optimization project. This effort, now extended through 2028, is deploying advanced control algorithms at multiple Army Reserve facilities to reduce cooling energy use, cut operating costs, and improve the reliability of critical mission loads – all using existing sensors and controls. These competitive grants bring outside investment into Army Reserve infrastructure and accelerate the adoption of tools that improve efficiency without requiring new hardware.
In Puerto Rico, the Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program (ERCIP) contributes to the Army Reserve’s growing network of microgrids with ongoing efforts at Ramey and Juana Diaz Army Reserve Centers and major upgrades at Fort Buchanan. The Fort Buchanan microgrid, supported by diesel generation, battery storage, solar integration, and wind assets, completed design earlier this year and was awarded for construction in August 2026. Once active, it will provide a resilient, multi‑layered power system capable of supporting operations through prolonged grid outages and severe weather. “Together, these ERCIP-supported initiatives strengthen energy security and readiness by giving facilities tested, real-world solutions that enhance independence, reliability, and mission assurance in the most challenging environments,” said Joe Foriska, ARIMD Project Manager. “This is the kind of resilient infrastructure that keeps our Soldiers supported and our missions moving no matter the conditions.”
As Army Reserve installations expand their use of smart systems, microgrids, distributed energy resources, and networked facility controls, cybersecurity has become inseparable from energy resilience. The former Facilities Related Control Systems portfolio is now aligned under Operational Technologies (OT) Cybersecurity, reflecting a broader Army-wide strategy to secure non‑traditional devices such as sensors, switches, controls, and automation systems that interface with energy infrastructure.
The Army Reserve recently briefed Headquarters Department of Army (HQDA) G-6 senior leadership on the Army Reserve’s OT Cybersecurity posture, highlighting that the Army Reserve is ahead of other services in mitigation planning, risk reduction, device visibility, and implementation of secure architecture. This approach is critical as microgrids, solar arrays, geothermal systems, and battery storage increasingly rely on interconnected digital control systems.
“Securing operational technology is essential to modernizing responsibly. By aligning mission, governance, and practical mitigations, the Army Reserve is proving that mission assurance and cybersecurity must advance together,” said Ivan Shidlovsky, Division Chief, HQDA, G-6, Cybersecurity Integration Control Systems Division.
This Energy Action Month, the Army Reserve demonstrates how Secure Energy, Ready Forces, and American Dominance are more than slogans. They are embedded in every geothermal system, microgrid, battery installation, diagnostic tool, and cybersecurity enhancement across the enterprise. Through strategic investment, innovation, and partnerships, the Army Reserve continues to deliver energy resilience that strengthens national security, supports global readiness, and ensures Soldiers remain positioned to fight and win.
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