Co-ops Team Up for Plant Maintenance

Josh Knight, an engineering technician with Union Power Cooperative, was among the participants.

Participants from three North Carolina electric distribution cooperatives joined a North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC) crew in November to perform maintenance at NCEMC’s Anson and Hamlet power plants. Pee Dee Electric, Randolph EMC and Union Power Cooperative sent crews and equipment to assist with maintenance initially postponed due to hurricane relief efforts in October.

“The overall purpose of the effort was to complete normally scheduled preventive maintenance and to keep the plant in the shortest outage as possible. We met every goal,” said Chris Kehrer, senior field service technician for North Carolina’s Electric Cooperatives.

Tasks were divided between three groups, and included visual transmission line inspections, surge arrestor and transformer tests, and breaker maintenance.

“All crews worked exceptionally well,” Kehrer said. “They were very professional and worked well together. This is what makes working for the electric cooperatives of North Carolina such a pleasure.”