1st Semester Courses

ETST 240 – Power Industry Concepts – 3 Credits
This course covers the basic role system operators and electrical dispatchers play in the electric power industry. In addition, students will study the history, development and evolution of the electric industry since inception. This course also explores the effects of deregulation of modern day electrical markets. This course concludes with the working environment of system operators, including some of the challenges they face, such as shift work, certification and the tremendous amount of responsibility operating in a real time market.

ENRT 106 – DC Fundamentals – 2 Credits- 30 CEHs
This course covers basic direct current theory and application. Students will study methods of producing direct current voltage, including batteries, and magnetic fields. Students will learn to calculate voltage, current, resistance, and power in series, parallel, and combination DC circuits. The construction and operation of rotating DC machines including DC generators and DC motors will also be covered.

ENRT 108 – AC Fundamentals – 3 Credits – 32 CEHs
This course covers basic alternating current theories and applies those theories to electrical systems and related equipment. Students will also study basic generator and motor design, construction and operation principles.

ETST 250 – Electrical Generation Theory – 4 Credits – 35 CEHs
This course covers the design and construction of large electrical generators. Students study the sources of voltage and the design and types of A.C. and D.C. generators and related auxiliary equipment. Students also study the design and operation of A.C. and D.C. motors.

2nd Semester Courses

ETST 254 –  Substations – 3 Credits – 39 CEHs
This course covers the basic equipment found in switchyards and substations. Also included are the function and types of substations, related transmission and distribution systems and how each system is tied to one another.

ETST 256 – Transformers – 3 Credits – 46 CEHs
This course furthers a students understanding by introducing basic diagrams, transformers, and basic substation safety and inspection. Topics covered in this course will include interpreting one-line diagrams, exploring power and specialty transformers, and lock-out/tag-out (LOTO) procedures for transformers.

ETST 258 – Protective Relaying – 3 credits – 54 CEHs
This course focuses on protective relaying of substation equipment and transmission lines. Details found in this course include practical understanding and identification of protective and control equipment, zones of protection, protection schemes, and relay communication systems.

ETST 260 – Electrical Diagram Interpretation – 2 Credits – 31 CEHs
This course covers electrical diagrams including single line diagrams, schematic diagrams and logic diagrams. This course focuses on the system operators perspective and the role diagram comprehension plays in an operators job performance.

3rd Semester Courses

ETST 262 – Power System Operations – 3 Credits – 30 CEHs
This course covers the basic roles and responsibilities of system operators including transmission operations, market operations, reliability, balance and interchange and scheduling. The goal of this course is to introduce the multitude of positions found in a typical transmission control center. 

ETST 266 – Interconnected System Operations – 3 Credits – 35 CEHs
This course covers the operation of power pools, regional reliability organizations and independent system operators and the role of each. In addition, this course covers interconnected switching procedures between utilities.

ETST 268 – Power Flow – 3 Credits – 40 CEHs
In this course, students study the control of power flow through interconnected systems and the operation of parallel power systems. The topics include generator synchronization, phase angle, VAR control and line voltage regulation. Procedures for controlling electrical power flows to maintain steady state conditions across the power grid are also a focus of this course.

ETST 270 – System Operator Work Practices – 3 Credits – 38 CEHs
In this course students gain the operational knowledge how the North American Transmission Grid is managed. Emphasis is placed on the understanding and use of various applications available to system operators for predicting and managing real time operations. Other areas of focus include the effect of voltage on power system stability, the effect of megawatt flow on voltage and reactive power requirements, and the effect of system voltage on static reactive resources and the NERC requirements for reactive power.

4th Semester Courses

ETST 272 – Power System Safety – 3 Credits – 34 CEHs
This course covers the safe operating practices, system isolation procedures, and accident prevention procedures used in the transmission and distribution of power. Emphasis will be placed on electrical system lock out and safety procedures.

ETST 274 – SCADA Systems and Communications- 3 Credits – 40 CEHs
This course covers supervisory control and data acquisition systems and the application of various communications technologies used in the electric industry.

ETST 276 – Power System Economics – 3 Credits – 48 CEHs
This course covers economic factors governing electrical system operations. Costs of generation, transmission and distribution are explained. The organization of markets for electrical energy and how this structure affects participating companies’ operational and investment decisions are discussed. The effects of congestion, transmission losses and penalty factors are studied. Load management, scheduling and pricing are a focus as well.

ETST 278 – Power System Emergency Concepts – 3 Credits – 40 CEHs
This course concentrates on the concepts involved in the emergency operations of the interconnected power system. Learners will study all of the NERC Emergency Preparedness and Operations Standards (EOP) that govern those operations. Topics include emergency planning, recognition of, and reaction to, power system emergencies and abnormal conditions, as well as system restoration and the implementation and coordination of the proper procedure to restore the electrical system to a safe operating condition.

ETST 280 – Reliability Policies & Procedures – 3 Credits – 35 CEHs
This course familiarizes and helps students understand the policies and procedures that ensure the reliability of the power system. North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) standards, as well as other regulatory agency policies, are explained and discussed. Government agencies, reliability regions, and state reliability concerns also are defined and discussed.