Contract Management
OSO has contract oversight responsibilities for two major prime contractors: one with UT Battelle, the management and operating contractor for ORNL, and the other with Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU), the prime contractor for the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a government owned contractor operated facility.
OSO’s oversight is strongly tied to the expectation that contractors maintain a credible and rigorous Contractor Assurance System (CAS). To this end, OSO oversight includes both independent, federally staffed oversight of the contractors as well as a substantial investment in contractor/Site Office partnered oversight. This strategic focus provides interactions that foster growth in understanding of DOE expectations and discipline, effective utilization of human resources, mutual trust, and success. OSO has implemented an assurance oversight program designed both to meet the federal requirements of DOE and the Office of Science’s (SC) expectations for implementation of contractor assurance systems at SC laboratories. The major objectives of the program are:
- Ensure that mission outcomes are accomplished;
- Ensure compliance with contractual requirements;
- Affirm the adequacy of contractor assurance systems;
- Identify novel approaches to partnering to effectively focus oversight resources; and
- Ensure performance of federal line management responsibilities.
UT-Battelle, LLC is the management and operating contractor for ORNL. The current contract value is $33,596,249,381.59 with an annual operating budget exceeding $1.2 billion per year. UT-Battelle assumed responsibility for operation of ORNL on April 1, 2000 based on a competitive procurement process. The current contract performance period ends March 31, 2025.
The website address to view the Department’s prime contract with UT-Battelle and all modifications is https://primecontract.ornl.gov/.
The ORAU contract was awarded on March 10, 2016. The current contract performance period ends September 30, 2025 with a contract value of $3,219,021,749. The annual operating budget exceeds $300,000,000 per year.
The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Contract can be viewed in its entirety by visiting https://orise.orau.gov/about/contract.html.
In addition to the two prime contracts OSO manages, DOE has an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) with Johnson Controls Government Systems, Inc. ESPCs allow Federal agencies to accomplish energy savings projects without up-front capital costs and without special Congressional appropriations.
In 2007, DOE selected Johnson Controls to develop an energy savings performance contract project for ORNL facilities. The final proposal, approved for contract on July 30, 2008, identified eight Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs) that were selected based on both their individual and collective merit in supporting DOE’s mission. The ECMs included steam decentralization, advanced electricity metering, lighting upgrades, etc. The largest measure was the construction of a Biomass Gasification Steam Plant to generate and supply reliable steam for the ORNL campus. The Biomass Steam Plant replaced four fossil-fuel-fired boilers with a biomass-fueled boiler system estimated to produce annual savings of $3.8 million and was fully integrated into the existing Operation and Maintenance facilities.
The current contract performance period is July 30, 2008 through February 28, 2029 with a contract value of $250,082,267
