Press Release

Count's help electrifies center's training ability

February 2007

By James L. Davis

Electrical training equipment mothballed for years has been dusted off and placed in the hands of instructors at the College of Eastern Utah's Western Energy Training Center to educate the next generation of workers in the Emery and Carbon County area.

Emery County Economic Development made the equipment available to WETC Jan. 5 to assist the center in its mission to educate students in areas of study high in demand in the region. The electrical training equipment was originally part of the Energy West Training Center near the Huntington Airport. The building was donated to Emery County Economic Development to use as a business incubator and the electrical equipment remained stored there, unused and accumulating dust.

The equipment was used as part of annual training requirements for electrical recertification training for coal miners and now, in the hands of WETC instructors, it will be again.

Tom Kerns, WETC electrical systems and compliance program director, loaded most of the electrical training equipment up on Jan. 5 and brought it to the training center to clean up and get ready to use for training classes. The equipment was used for classes for the first time on Monday and Kerns is excited to have it for his classes.

This equipment hasn't been used in 10 to 12 years. Now it is housed in a protected environment," he said.

It will make it much easier for training," said Sam Quigley, industry coordinator for WETC.

The training equipment is designed for hands on training, allowing the students to see how electrical systems work and it allows the instructor to throw a curve ball or two into his training to give students practical troubleshooting exercises, which is right down the alley for Kerns, who describes himself as an "electrical engineer vintage 1966."

Photo by James L. Davis

Tom Kerns, Western Energy Training Center electrical systems and compliance director, starts one of the electrical training models obtained from the county.

The first classes to be taught with the equipment is a group of 10-12 Utah American coal mine electricians from Genwal, Westridge and Tower Resources mines. The class is Advanced Coal Mine Electrical Training and is in addition to mandated training by the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

The equipment, which consists of dozens of separate operational training models, is mobile and will be available for classes not only at WETC in Helper, but at the CEU campus in Price as well as for courses offered by the Southeast Applied Technology College.

For Kerns, who prior to coming on board at WETC, spent 115 days conducting electrical training classes outside of the Emery and Carbon County area, the equipment is invaluable.

If I had to go out and requisition all of this equipment brand new you would be looking at a quarter of a million dollars."

While some of the equipment is still in need of attention before it will be ready for classes, Kerns said little by little it will all be put to use.

The Western Energy Training Center is housed in what used to be the Willow Creek Mine complex. The center opened last summer and is a new resource for employees of the energy industry. The center staff plans to be the focal point for training and technical expertise for employees and employers in the energy industry.

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