EPTC rolls out new courses for FY24

The Electric Power Training Center has been continually upgrading its curriculum over the past few years. In 2020, the EPTC revamped courses to be delivered entirely virtually using WebEx Training, which had never been done before. Now in 2023 and beyond, the EPTC has rolled out multiple course deliveries such as in-person, virtual and hybrid courses. All these course delivery styles are available for FY24 and posted on the EPTC website and registration program GoSignMeUp.

The EPTC’s first-ever hybrid course, Power Plant and System Operations, has been a popular one. This two-week course presents the first week virtually, covering in-depth knowledge of power plant operations, followed by a second week in-person with hands-on, problem-solving exercises in the EPTC’s Miniature Power System.

Another popular course invites non-technical students to attend a three-day, in-person course called Overview NEXT. Overview NEXT consists of one day in the classroom, one tour day at a substation, powerplant and dispatch location, and the last day in the MPS doing exercises to tie together all of the training lessons.

EPTC’s partnership between WAPA, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation dates back to October 2015. This partnership has been beneficial to all entities and has led to increased interest in EPTC courses. Every year, EPTC offers a pre-registration period before the course schedule opens to the public. The available seats for each course are divided up equally among each partner.

The FY24 pre-registration period ended Sept. 1, 2023, with record-breaking interest. WAPA pre-registrations have far exceeded any in previous years. In fact, WAPA pre-registrations have doubled from FY23 to FY24, inspiring EPTC staff to continue evolving course development to meet the needs of the industry.

If you are interested in courses or have additional questions about FY24 courses, please contact eptc@wapa.gov.

Note: Huff is an administrative analyst with the Cherokee Nation Strategic Programs contract.