TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – It’s Mission Monday! Meet Mike Petitpren, NexGen IT energy function lead in the Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Energy Directorate Measurements and Analysis Division, in Florida.
He ensures the Department of the Air Force energy management teams at all DAF installations are trained and given the individual support they need to fully engage and be effective when using the NexGen IT Energy Module to accomplish their mission of tracking and reporting energy consumption, costs and supporting data.
“I manage a team of support personnel, each of which are assigned to specific major commands and their installations, who develop one-on-one relationships with base energy personnel. As important as this primary duty is, I’m also responsible for identifying and championing enhancements and changes to the system for the ease and betterment of all users,” Petitpren said.
We asked the Michigan native to tell us more about himself and his work in support of the DAF.
What do you love about your job?
There is always something new to deal with. Each base has its own unique conditions and situations, and the NexGen IT system continues to evolve and grow in its capabilities. Many times, these changes highlight or cause database or data input problems for our energy personnel at the installation level and provides new challenges to be solved … keeping us on our toes and making things interesting rather than always routine.
When it comes to your job, what keeps you motivated?
I get to deal with and assist our engineering professionals at all our bases around the world accomplish their requirements of energy reporting. For instance, when explaining a data reporting function that a new installation energy manager is having trouble understanding, you hear “Oh yahhh,” you know he just got it and you’ve made him more effective and his job easier.
Why are you and your team important to the Air Force and Space Force enterprise and your customers?
The NexGen Energy Module is the data base that supports the Annual Energy Performance, Resilience and Readiness report to Congress on the status of consumption and cost of utility energy, along with other associated data for the DAF. Our team’s main responsibility, through managing, monitoring and ensuring correct installation use, is to ensure that the NexGen IT Energy database is as accurate as possible.
Describe a project or event you and your team worked on recently that gave you a great sense of accomplishment:
NexGen has been designated as the official repository for the building meters listing at all Air Force and Space Force installations. With the recent push over the last couple of years to install “smart” meters on specific installation buildings with the installation of Automated Meter Reading Systems, it has become difficult to track specific types and connections of all meters within the existing database construct. Working with the AMRS meter manager, we have developed an enhancement to the NexGen meter detail records which will identify all aspects of type and connection status of any meter listed in the inventory.
How does what you do support AFIMSC’s strategic priorities?
An accurate database of the consumption and costs at all DAF installations assists in the evaluation and planning in support of installation readiness and resilience, and our strategic planning.