Duke Energy grant to SFSC

Staff report

South Florida State College has received a $15,000 grant from Duke Energy Foundation to create powerful communities in its service district of DeSoto, Hardee and Highlands counties. The college is one of 18 organizations across Florida to receive grants supporting innovative workforce education and training programs through Duke Energy Foundation’s Powerful Communities program.

This grant will infuse SFSC’s Electrical Lineworker program with enhanced and updated equipment, increased training capabilities, enhanced readiness for job opportunities, and preparation for natural disasters, such as hurricanes. Equipment that will be purchased with the grant money are climbing kits that assist students in climbing utility poles; chromated copper arsenate-coated utility poles that students will use to practice rigging, setting, and climbing; aluminum conductor steel-reinforced wire to rig power transmission lines; and cross arms for the tops of power lines that students will use to become proficient in rigging and setting cross arms on power poles.

Power up

SFSC’s Electrical Lineworker program,

Christopher Yeomans, electrical distribution professor, yeomans@southflorida.edu, 863-784-7045.

Duke Energy Foundation provides philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy’s customers live and work. Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 125 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the United States.