Beginning in the Fall of 2009, Northern Michigan University will be offering an Electrical Power Technician Program. The goal of the program is to better educate people heading into the electrical power industry to work in substations and distribution stations.

“Substations and distribution stations are what tie the electrical distribution network together; they would include all the large electrical yards you see where large electrical lines come together, start or terminate,” said Mike Rudisill, head of the Engineering Technology Department.

The Lake Superior Partnership, a group of local utility companies including Wisconsin Energy, Upper Peninsula Power Company and M.J. Electric worked with NMU in designing the program.

The economic job prospects are taken into consideration when NMU chooses a new program.

With recent societal concerns about the environment, there will be an economic need for positions in this industry to be filled.

The associate’s degree program will include four new courses: Substation Equipment (ET180), Transformers (ET255), Power and Equipment (ET270) and Protective Relay Systems (ET280).

Approximately 20 freshmen are expected to enroll in the courses, which will be held at the Jacobetti Center.

The program is expected to build year-to-year as the need and want for electrical power technicians increases.