Feb 1
Pee Dee Electric Donates Relay Panel to EUSRT Program
February 1, 2018 - Pee Dee Electric donated a relay panel Feb. 1 to Richmond Community College’s Electric Utility Substation and Relay Technology program, broadening students’ knowledge of different types of panels used in the utility industry.
“The relay panel that Pee Dee Electric donated will allow students to experience how other panels may look as they progress into their careers with electric utilities,” EUSRT instructor Mark Rhyne said. “While the Schweitzer relays we currently use are a dominant brand for power system protection, there are other brands the students will encounter. This donation will be a valuable asset for our students to explore other types of relay and annunciator panels.”
The newly donated relay panel uses Cooper Power relays and backup relays and has a top-of-the-line annunciator panel that alerts relay technicians when there are problems in the substation. These particular relays are used to protect large substation transformers from faults in the electric system and measure and store various electrical data such as current and voltage.
The panels donated by Pee Dee Electric are valued in the range of $10,000, adding to the very expensive and highly technical equipment used in this curriculum to train RichmondCC’s EUSRT students.
“We are thankful for Pee Dee Electric’s long-time support of this program that prepares are students for high-paying careers in the utility industry,” Dr. Dale McInnis, president of RichmondCC, said. “Graduates coming out of the EUSRT program are in high demand thanks to donations like this that give our students first-hand experience with the equipment being used by industry leaders.”