Fully burdened cost of energy in military operations

This paper presents an analytical framework for evaluating the Fully Burdened Cost of Energy (FBCE) in military operations. The FBCE of a system represents the energy commodity price plus the logistics costs associated with the delivery of energy to the system, including transportation, infrastructure, and force protection costs. The purpose of the FBCE concept is to allow a proper evaluation of the energy costs when assessing different alternatives in military operations and acquisitions. The FBCE shall also be used to inform decisions on the size and focus of investment in science and technology programs related to the development of new platforms, renewable energy solutions, etc. This paper used cost estimation techniques to calculate the FBCE and focused on fuel-based military systems and operations. Two case studies using Canadian Forces domestic and deployed operational bases were presented and discussed to demonstrate the methodology.