Newberry Electric’s Wanda Johnson (sitting) show Cooperative Youth Summit students how she identifies where outages occur and dispatches lineworkers to restore power. The communication center was a part of the tour of NEC given by Vice President of Engineering Kevin Shull.

Newberry Electric’s Wanda Johnson (sitting) show Cooperative Youth Summit students how she identifies where outages occur and dispatches lineworkers to restore power. The communication center was a part of the tour of NEC given by Vice President of Engineering Kevin Shull.

NEWBERRY — Those brave enough to take the ride got a great bird’s eye view of Newberry County and everyone got an on-the-ground glimpse of how an electric cooperative operates.

Student-delegates from across the state visited Newberry Electric Cooperative in July as part of the annual Cooperative Youth Summit, a four-day experience for select high school students sponsored by South Carolina’s electric cooperatives. For some, the morning at the cooperative was highlighted by a lift above the skyline in one of the NEC’s boom truck buckets, which are typically used in maintenance and restoration work on utility poles. For others, it was seeing the cooperative’s community solar farm or learning about how they’ve made highspeed broadband available to their entire membership.

For Alex Mut, a student-delegate representing Black River Electric Cooperative, visiting Newberry electric was a glimpse into a possible future.

“Seeing the co-op was an eye-opener for me,” says Mut. “I want to be an engineer, so it was great exposure for me to see the different kinds of careers that are out there, especially with the solar farm. I got to see how they planned it all out and that’s the kind of thing I really want to do.”

Additionally, the students learned about the hazards of high-voltage electricity and the precautions needed to protect lineworkers and everyone else from its dangers. Newberry Electric officials also showed off their outage management and communications center, revealing to the students how they monitor service interruptions and dispatch restoration efforts across their system.

“These students are the future of our cooperatives,” says Kevin Shull, vice president of engineering for Newberry Electric. “It’s important that they understand what an electric cooperative is, what it stands for and the potential impact co-ops have on the community.”