RichmondCC Receives Donated Transformer from Duke Energy

Christmas came early for Richmond Community College! Duke Energy gifted the College a single-phase transformer and had it delivered and installed in the campus substation.

“This is the second major power transformer that Duke Energy has donated to RichmondCC,” said Steve Lampley, instructor for the Electric Utility Substation and Relay Technology (EUSRT) program. “This gives our students more equipment for hands-on training in the substation and will allow multiple groups of students to work on separate transformers.”

Duke Energy has been a major donor to the College’s EUSRT program, which prepares students for lifelong careers in the electric utility industry and other industries that rely on complex control systems. Since the program’s inception in 2011, Duke has donated nearly $1 million in funding and equipment to support the program.

A Duke Energy crew accompanied a crane operator to campus on Tuesday to lift the 16-ton transformer off a flatbed trailer and place it squarely on a concrete pad in the substation. The 115,000-volt transformer is still operable, and EUSRT students will be able to run tests and perform maintenance on the unit.

In the utility industry, entry level technicians with two- or four-year degrees in electronics engineering require five years of training to be capable of maintaining and supporting substations and the relay equipment associated with them. The EUSRT degree program, however, was crafted specifically to develop technicians with the training and skills to begin work immediately in the utility industry and cut the normal training time in half. Salaries for this two-year degree typically start around $60,000 a year.

This fall, the College began offering an Electric Utility Transformer Test Specialist diploma in response to the utility industry’s immediate demand for more technicians capable of working on large power transformers. The diploma can be completed in four semesters with classes being offered in the evening to cater to those who already have employment but may be looking for a change in careers.

Spring Semester Begins Jan. 8

RichmondCC is accepting new students for spring semester, which begins Jan. 8. Final registration for spring semester will be held Jan. 5-7 from 8:30 a.m.t o 1 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. on the main campus in Hamlet. Here's How to Apply, or call (910) 410-1700.