Practical Experience Prepares Cordova Intern

Cordova Electric Cooperative is a dynamic utility serving over 1,550 customers in the City of Cordova. Kurt Nunn is working for CEC through ACEP's Utility Student Internship Program.

ACEP's Amanda Byrd traveled to Cordova last week to meet Nunn and talk about why he's spending his summer in a remote community.

"I needed more practical experience and more on-the-ground knowledge rather than the theoretical background, which is important," Nunn said. "More important is learning how to function in a team setting and an organization."

Nunn is earning a double major at the University of Alaska Fairbanks in computer engineering and electrical engineering. He is interested in controls, automation, and supervisory control and data acquisition.

Byrd and Nunn traveled to the run-of-the-river Power Creek Hydroelectric Project and visited the newly commissioned battery energy storage system. Nunn is trying to help the 1-megawatt battery communicate with the microgrid and hydroelectric system, and he looks forward to digging into the generation data from the utility.

Ten utilities across Alaska are participating in ACEP’s Utility Student Internship Program, funded by the Office of Naval Research. For more information on the program, please contact Heike Merkel at hmerkel@alaska.edu.

 

Amanda Byrd interviews student intern Kurt Nunn at the headwaters of Power Creek Hydroelectric Project outside of Cordova. Photo by Mike Mathers.