OUC Hosts Youth Energy Academy

Students participate in a Q&A session on what they had learned at Stanton Energy Center.

Kenneth Templeton was surprised to learn that of all the water on the Earth, less than 3% is freshwater, and of that amount approximately 70% is stored in the polar ice caps.

“I realized why it’s so important to conserve water,” he said. “There’s very little drinking water on the planet.”

Templeton, a rising Seminole State College freshman, was among 63 middle, high school and college students from Orange, Lake, Seminole, Volusia and Osceola counties participating in the Youth Energy Academy’s (YEA) visit to OUC’s Stanton Energy Center (SEC) on Thursday, July 27, 2023. While at SEC, YEA participants were educated about high-paying career opportunities – not all of them requiring college degrees – in the energy industry, including at the plant and as lineworkers or fleet vehicle technicians.

Sponsored by the Florida Chapter of the American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE), YEA is a statewide program that seeks to inspire African American youths to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses. OUC has supported the local YEA’s two-day summer field trip, which includes stops at Siemens Energy and Duke Energy facilities, for nine consecutive years. Corey Johnson, Manager of Water Operations, and Queen Massaline, Sr. Community Engagement Coordinator, organized and led the YEA event at SEC. Johnson and Massaline serve as chair and co-chair of the OUC chapter of the AABE, respectively.

“Most of these kids have no idea that there are so many different types of jobs in the energy industry, everything from marketing to engineering to maintaining fleet vehicles and the powerlines. Our goal is to expose them to the possibilities of working in the energy sector, perhaps even at OUC,” said Johnson. “You can make a good living working for a utility, with or without a college education.”

With the students assembled in a large conference room, Joe Naberhaus, Director of Solid Fuel Generation, offered a high-level overview of how the plant generates electricity using a diverse mix of fuels, including coal, natural gas, landfill gas and solar.  After a safety briefing by Frank Roca, Safety Coordinator at SEC, students were outfitted with hard hats, protective eyewear and ear plugs in preparation for seeing OUC’s flagship power plant at work.

While on their tour, students explored the turbine deck where SEC’s Units 1 & 2 turbines generate hundreds of megawatts of electricity – nearly 1,000 at peak capacity – and a great deal of noise. They also visited the plant’s Control Room, where operators monitor dozens of computer screens displaying data related to power generation.

“In the energy industry, red means ‘on’ and green means ‘off,’ ” explained Anthony Eddy, Supervisor of Power Plant Operations, pointing to monitors displaying color-coded lines of data.

After their tour, students were challenged to compete as teams in an architectural design exercise led by Black Architects in the Making. Using 12 sheets of paper and tape, each team built a tower that would be able to support a few ounces of added weight and withstand an earthquake and hurricane, which were simulated by shaking work tables and a fan, respectively.

In a demonstration on water production, Christine Misner, Sr. Chemist in OUC’s Water Quality Laboratory, explained how water is pumped from the Lower Floridan Aquifer, treated and distributed to customers through underground pipes. Opening small bottles of water marked “Before,” students got a whiff of the odor in aquifer water that hasn’t been treated through OUC’s ozone process that removes the rotten egg smell caused by hydrogen sulfide.

During the half-day event, students were quizzed on what they had learned about the power plant, water production, safety procedures, and powerline and vehicle maintenance work. Those who answered correctly won gift cards. The field trip concluded with a catered lunch.