Gary Koblet is named TVA engineer of the year

TENNESSEE - Growing up in Scottsboro, Ala., during the 1970s and '80s, Gary Koblet learned early about the power of the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Both the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant - once Alabama's biggest construction project - and the Widows Creek Fossil Plant - one of the South's biggest coal plants - are located in Mr. Koblet's native Jackson County, Ala.

By the time Mr. Koblet earned his electrical engineering degree and joined TVA in 1990, Bellefonte was mothballed. He worked instead at Widows Creek. But Mr. Koplet said his real passion was on the transmission side of TVA to help the utility distribute the power generated at Widows Creek and other plants.

The 37-year-old electrical engineer is a national leader in helping to keep the lights on in the Tennessee Valley. The relay engineering specialist was recently chosen from among more than 3,000 engineers to be TVA's Engineer of the Year for 2005. He also has been chosen as a finalist for federal engineer of the year to be announced Feb. 24 in Washington D.C.

"Gary's ability to analyze transmission fault data is well known and highly valued," TVA Executive Vice President Terry Boston said. "His analytical work and development of corrective actions to prevent the recurrence of electrical faults has allowed the timely return of TVA's transmission facilities and power plants to service on numerous occasions."

Mr. Boston said he chose Mr. Koblet to help in his work with other industry leaders analyzing the August, 2003 power blackout in the Northeast. Subsequently, Mr. Koblet was chosen as TVA's only representative on the North American Electric Reliability Council's task force on system protection and controls.

Mr. Boston said engineers like Mr. Koblet have a different time dimension than most people.

"We think in terms of minutes and hours, but in his job he thinks in terms of micro- and milliseconds," Mr. Boston said. "The electric grid literally contains enough energy to destroy itself, so we need systems and devices to protect our equipment and ensure its reliability at almost any instant."

Mr. Koblet developed TVA's procedures for dealing with how to maintain relay operations during solar disturbances caused by solar flares that create potentially harmful electro-magnetic fields. The TVA engineer calculates settings to ensure relays properly protect the power system against disturbances.

Last year, TVA outages to the customers it serves averaged only less than five minutes for the entire year.

"Electricity is certainly important for our country and there are some real advantages to experience and longevity in these type jobs," Mr. Koblet said. "I hope to stay at TVA and make my career here."