Smart Grid Courses at BSC | Video

Kristin Clouston | 8/14/2012

Energy technology continues to grow, and so do opportunities to learn more about the ever-changing field. The Bismarck State College National Energy Center of Excellence has just added a new class to its series of smart grid courses.

A grid is a network of transmission lines, sub-stations and transformers that deliver electricity from power plants to your home or business. A smart grid also uses technology to gather information so utility companies can control everything digitally from one location.

Two years ago, BSC didn`t even offer classes on smart grids, but now it offers four online courses, thanks in part to a $2.5 million grant from the Department of Energy. The newest course is called "Impact of the Smart Grid." It`s for people who work in the energy industry.

"You can be at any level in your company and basically it helps you understand the terminology of the smart grid and when you hear smart grid being implemented in your company you have a better understanding of what`s actually being done and how it could impact you and your position," said NECE Program Manager Alicia Uhde.

The other courses deal with operations, renewable resources and how to be a smart customer.

"Some utilities are doing time-of-day pricing. The costs could change depending on the time of day it is. So if you want to do laundry at 10:00 at night versus 5:00 in the afternoon, it would benefit you not to do your laundry at 5:00 when the high demand for power is present," said NECE Associate Vice President Bruce Emmil.

The courses are self-paced and each unit contains self-check exams. They are 10 to 12 hours and since it`s self study, participants can register at any time.

The school has a partnership with the Energy Providers Coalition for education. In the past year and a half more than 1,700 students have taken the smart grid classes.

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