COPPERAS COVE, Texas (KXXV) — The city of Copperas Cove has been awarded a $5 million portion of the $17 million Governor Greg Abbott allocated for military infrastructure projects across Texas. The funding will support a crucial initiative aimed at enhancing energy resilience at Fort Cavazos.
“Fort Cavazos is basically a small city inside the fence line. Copperas Cove is obviously right on the other side of that fence line. The grid, the ERCOT grid, doesn't know the difference other than it just sees demand,” Kevin Mann, Manager of Privatization at Dominion Energy, said.
The partnership between Copperas Cove, Fort Cavazos and Dominion Energy is paving the way for a storage system that will not only ease pressure on the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid but also improve efficiency and energy security for military facilities and housing communities.
“This program is designed to help military installations like Fort Cavazos, as well as Air Force and Navy installations, improve their readiness and enable us to better support our nation and fulfill the tasks our nation asks of us,” Brian Dosa, Public Works Director at Fort Cavazos, said.
This grant is one of the largest from the Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant Program, providing energy security for 25 critical facilities and five family housing communities in Fort Cavazos.
“It all goes back to supporting our soldiers, our units, and our families. Part of that is having reliable electricity,” Dosa said.
The 3 megawatt battery, storing solar energy from a 15 megawatt solar array, will reduce stress and costs on the ERCOT grid. It is also expected to improve efficiency, support soldiers and benefit communities across the state.
“In the state of Texas, with all the tremendous growth we've seen, the grid is under pressure. So any opportunity we have to store electricity in a battery system and use it when demand is highest and the grid is strained – it’s just a win-win. It’s a win for us, it’s a win for the community, and it’s a win for the state of Texas,” Dosa said.
Dominion Energy, the Director of Public Works, and the City of Copperas Cove will meet this week to discuss the next steps.
Mann anticipates the project will be completed by November of 2026.
