North Carolina State University Electrical Distribution Improvement
Raleigh, NC
BEST PROJECT
Sent by: RMF Engineering
Owner: North Carolina State University
Main design company: RMF Engineering
General contractor: Balfour Beatty
Replacing a medium-voltage system that had served NC State University’s 260-acre central campus for more than 50 years meant nearly every road and sidewalk had to be disrupted to install new underground infrastructure. Meanwhile, two district power plants, a cogeneration facility and more than 100 buildings remained powered throughout construction.
The $59 million project replaced the entire electrical distribution network with an intelligent 15 kV system organized into six simplified circuits fed by improved switchgear and interconnected by automated pad-mounted circuit breakers. These switches detect faults, isolate affected areas and automatically redirect power within seconds. The upgraded system offers 50% more electrical capacity than its predecessor while enabling remote monitoring and control via a centralized SCADA system.
After developing detailed phase plans, the team transformed them into visually intuitive graphics, including Google Maps-based overlays posted on a dedicated project website that showed active work zones, pedestrian detours and modified bus routes in a way the entire campus community could follow, with updates driven as conditions changed.
Photo courtesy of RMF Engineering
During the second half of the project, numerous other large-scale construction efforts also took place on campus. The team had to interact with multiple general contractors and construction managers executing separate projects in overlapping areas. This involved coordinating lane closures, scheduling equipment delivery to avoid conflicts and sharing access roads so no project created a bottleneck.
Before any mechanical digging, crews used ground-penetrating radar and exploratory caving. Each electrical transition followed a written procedural method constructed for each building and its equipment, covering weather contingencies, material readiness verification, pre-energization testing, and order of steps.
Photo courtesy of RMF Engineering
Instead of relying on conventional commissioning for this self-healing network, the team developed a structured, phased test flow diagram that validated the automation at progressively larger scales, starting with small, isolated segments of the network and expanding as trust grew. The tiered approach allowed the team to identify and resolve issues at a manageable scale before they could propagate to a campus-wide trial. All 110 campus buildings were successfully converted from the old network to the new distribution system.
Photo courtesy of RMF Engineering
The testing framework provides a replicable model for campus and municipal systems facing the same dilemma. SCADA implementation has already begun at other campuses in the University of North Carolina system, including Elizabeth City State University. The central campus system was fully energized and completed on schedule in July 2025.
