BUSINESS NEWS
Sunflower Electric Power Corp. (Sunflower) has promoted Dae VanPelt to manager of system operations.
VanPelt is responsible for managing safe and reliable operation of Sunflower’s transmission and generation system including outage coordination, line switching, voltage regulation and generation loading. He ensures Sunflower is compliant with all participation agreements, interconnection agreements, and power contracts, as well as the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) operating and reliability standards and the Southwest Power Pool’s (SPP) market protocols. In addition, VanPelt provides leadership for the system operations training program designed to prepare new recruits in mastering the skills required of system operators.
During his tenure 16-year tenure at Sunflower, VanPelt has demonstrated highly technical expertise, serving in multiple positions within system operations, including system operator, EMS/SCADA applications coordinator, and the system operations supervisor. He has a strong background in the electric utility industry with expertise in the areas of transmission operations, generation operations, system reliability and supervision.
As a system operations supervisor, VanPelt was instrumental in overseeing the transition to a new system monitoring and control system, coordinating the implementation of a training simulator as part of that upgrade, and supervising system operation’s role in protecting grid reliability during numerous weather events, including Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.
A native of Bushton, Kan., and a graduate of Barton County Community College, VanPelt resides in Holcomb, Kan., with his wife and four children.
About Sunflower—Sunflower Electric Power Corporation is a regional wholesale power supplier that operates a system of solar, wind, natural gas, and coal-based generating plants and a transmission system of approximately 2,400 miles for the needs of its seven Members, who serve customers living in central and western Kansas. Visit Sunflower’s website at http://www.sunflower.net
Sunflower’s member cooperatives include Lane-Scott Electric Cooperative, Dighton; Pioneer Electric Cooperative, Ulysses; Prairie Land Electric Cooperative, Norton; The Victory Electric Cooperative Association, Dodge City; Western Cooperative Electric Association, WaKeeney; and Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Scott City, Kansas. Southern Pioneer Electric Company is also a Member of Sunflower.