Sandhills Wins $15.9M Fort Liberty Microgrid Contract
- Microgrids Military & Defense News
Marin Holt
- 2
- 5 minutes read
- Sandhills awarded $15.9M (cumulative $17.9M) on March 12, 2026 for Fort Liberty SOTF microgrid
- Separate $42.6M JSOC microgrid by David Boland Inc. is 83% complete
- Combined Fort Liberty microgrid investment exceeds $60M
- JSOC microgrid enables 14-day islanding capability
- Work runs through February 2028
Sandhills Utility Services LLC received a $15.9 million firm-fixed-price contract on March 12, 2026, for microgrid and backup power construction at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. The total cumulative contract value reaches $17.9 million, with work at the installation’s Special Operations Task Force compound expected to run through February 2028.
What Is Being Built
The project addresses a gap in Fort Liberty’s electrical resilience. The SOTF compound currently relies on building-level diesel generators during grid outages, but those units were not designed for full-load, extended operation. The new microgrid will provide an independent power source capable of sustaining compound operations during prolonged utility disruptions.
Sandhills Utility Services, which already owns and operates the privatized electrical infrastructure at Fort Liberty, will integrate the microgrid with the existing distribution system through a new interconnect agreement. The contract covers generation equipment, switchgear, controls, and site work needed to enable islanding from the base-wide grid.
Broader Fort Liberty Microgrid Investment
This contract is the second major microgrid investment at Fort Liberty in 18 months. In October 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded David Boland, Inc. a $42.6 million contract for a separate microgrid serving the Joint Special Operations Command compound. That JSOC system, now 83% complete, will enable the compound to island from Fort Liberty’s distribution network and sustain critical operations for up to 14 days independently. Together, the two projects represent nearly $60 million in microgrid investment at a single Army installation.
Critical Perspective
The 5.9M announced here reflects the press-release headline; the conditions, timelines, and cost structures that determine actual delivery are not addressed. Projects of this type in comparable markets have historically run 15-25% over initial timelines due to interconnection review, permitting, or equipment supply constraints. The question energy professionals should be asking: what are the contractual milestones and penalties that ensure this project delivers on its stated specifications and schedule?
Why It Matters
The Army aims to deploy a microgrid at every installation by 2034, with military microgrid spending projected to reach $1.4 billion annually. Fort Liberty’s dual microgrid approach reflects the Department of Defense’s strategy of building compound-specific resilience rather than single installation-wide systems. The privatized utility model, with Sandhills serving as both grid operator and microgrid contractor, offers a procurement pathway that other installations with privatized utilities is likely to follow.
