BOWLING GREEN, KY — Morton Electric has hired two Western Kentucky University Electrical Engineering students, Aric Springob and Ha’ani Whitlock, as Engineering Interns supporting the company’s growing Automation Lab at the WKU Innovation Campus on Nashville Road.

Springob and Whitlock are both juniors in WKU’s Electrical Engineering program. They will assist Morton Electric’s engineering team with the development of a customizable industrial energy-management software platform designed for large commercial, institutional, and manufacturing facilities.

The platform will help organizations such as university campuses, hospitals, metal-processing facilities, water and wastewater systems, and advanced manufacturers better understand where electricity is being consumed, identify areas of high demand or waste, and make more informed decisions about energy use and infrastructure investments.

Morton Electric plans to build each application around the customer’s existing facility and electrical systems. Whenever practical, the platform will communicate with energy-monitoring meters and power-quality devices already installed in switchgear and electrical-distribution equipment. This approach can reduce unnecessary equipment replacement, shorten deployment time, and lower implementation costs.

The platform will use open industrial communication standards and highly customizable software tools to bring electrical, automation, and operational data into a centralized visual interface. Each customer will receive dashboards, graphics, alarms, reporting tools, and energy-cost calculations tailored to the layout and operating requirements of its facility.

Planned capabilities include:

• Monitoring electrical consumption and peak demand
• Identifying the buildings, production areas, or equipment associated with high energy use
• Estimating demand-charge exposure
• Communicating with existing power meters, PLCs, variable-frequency drives, robots, and other automated equipment
• Monitoring solar-energy production
• Integrating battery energy storage systems
• Coordinating large motor startups with battery dispatch
• Supporting demand reduction, power-quality improvement, and critical-load resilience

• Providing historical reporting, alarms, analytics, and facility-specific energy dashboards

When integrated with solar generation and battery storage, the platform will help facilities reduce demand charges, improve the use of on-site energy, and strengthen resilience during utility disturbances. Battery systems may also be coordinated with large loads such as chillers, compressors, pumps, hydraulic power units, air handlers, and conveyors to reduce the impact of motor-starting demand.

“Aric and Ha’ani are joining Morton Electric at an exciting time,” said Brad Morton, President of Morton Electric. “We are building an Automation Lab that combines industrial controls, Ignition SCADA development, energy monitoring, solar, battery storage, and microgrid technology.

Their work will contribute to a platform that helps customers see where their energy is being used, understand what is driving their costs, and develop a practical plan for reducing those costs.”

Morton Electric is developing its Automation Lab at the WKU Innovation Campus to support regional manufacturers and other high-technology facilities with PLC programming, HMI and SCADA development, robotics, motion control, industrial networking, electrical engineering, energy management, and systems integration.

The lab is also intended to create hands-on learning opportunities for WKU students while helping Morton Electric build the engineering workforce needed to support increasingly automated and energy-intensive facilities.

Morton Electric is currently seeking controls engineers with experience in Ignition software, PLC programming, industrial networking, SCADA development, and manufacturing systems integration.

About Morton Electric

Morton Electric provides industrial electrical construction, automation and controls engineering, systems integration, solar energy, battery storage, and intelligent energy-management solutions. The company supports manufacturers, utilities, institutions, and critical-infrastructure customers with services ranging from field electrical installation and control-panel construction to advanced PLC, SCADA, robotics, and microgrid systems.

Media and Employment Contact Morton Electric, LLC

812-402-0900

contact@mortonelectricllc.com www.mortonelectricllc.com

Morton Electric Engineering Interns Ha’ani Whitlock and Aric Springob stand inside the company’s developing Automation Lab at the WKU Innovation Campus in Bowling Green.

Both are juniors majoring in Electrical Engineering at Western Kentucky University and will

assist with the development of Morton Electric’s industrial energy-management platform.