About Us

Patterson Power Engineers, LLC is dedicated to providing top quality engineering for our customers and always strive to be the best in our profession.  We take our obligation as licensed professional engineers very seriously.

Below are organizations we are active participants in or with whom we are members/registrants,

• IEEE Power System Relaying Committee (PSRC)
• National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES)
• National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)

Our goal is to earn our customers confidence while meeting their needs to the best of our ability.  We have a passion for our work and strive to be the best engineers  we can be!

Russell W. Patterson, P.E.
Owner

Russ has eighteen years experience in utility generator and transmission protection and managed the system protection department for TVA until his retirement in 2008 to enter full time consulting.  He is a member of the IEEE Power System Relay Committee where he is chair of the line protection subcommittee and a member of the rotating machinery subcommittee.  He is a senior member of IEEE, a member of CIGRÉ, and a registered professional engineer.  He is also an adjunct faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the electrical engineering department. 

Russ has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University. 

 

Meyer M. Kao, P.E.
Protection Consultant

Meyer has extensive experience in the electric utility industry.  His main expertise resides in the field of protection and analysis.  He was a system engineer in TVA's operation and maintenance organization, responsible for commissioning of new transmission and generation construction projects, performing power equipment and relaying tests, and assessments of transmission system health.  He has over ten years experience in protection and analysis with Tennessee Valley Authority, as a Power System Specialist.  As Lead Analysis Engineer he was responsible for event analysis for all TVA generation and transmission assets.  This work included analysis of generator trips (nuclear, fossil, and hydro) as well as all transmission up to 500 kV.  Meyer actively participates in the IEEE Power System Relay Committee (PSRC) where he currently is the chairman of the line protection working group D2, "Considerations in Choosing Ground Polarizing Methods."  He is a registered professional engineer and a senior member of IEEE. 

Meyer has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology. 

 

W. Larry Oxford, P.E.
Protection Consultant

Larry Oxford spent his last nineteen years at TVA as a specialist in System Protection where he was responsible for specifying relaying setpoints, coordination, operational modes and methods, and solving operating problems associated with all protection systems for fossil, hydro, and nuclear generating plants and transmission substations.  He was also tasked with solving engineering problems related to the system operations and to aid field engineers in troubleshooting as well as temporary system configurations.  Prior to joining TVA System Protection Larry was engineering unit supervisor at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant responsible for a twelve member engineering unit performing installation, maintenance, and testing of power equipment.  Prior to that he spent four years as a field test engineer in the TVA transmission system.   He is a Commander in the United States Navy Reserve (Retired).  Larry presently focuses on transmission line protection for PPE customers at all voltage levels across the United States.   

Larry has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Tennessee Tech University. 

 

Charlie R. Sufana, P.E.
Protection Consultant

Charlie Sufana spent twenty-five years at Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) in Chicago.  He spent several years in the operation analysis department doing field testing.  The bulk of his time with ComEd was in the System Protection & Control group setting protective relays from 34.5kV up through 765kV including generation protection.  Prior to joining PPE Charlie gained experience working for a major relay manufacturer as well as other consulting shops.  Charlie has taught many classes and courses on system protection including graduate level courses at the Illinois Institute of Technology.   Charlie is a member of the IEEE Power System Relaying Committee where he is a member of several subcommittees and is a past chair of the System Protection Subcommittee.

 

Charlie has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Masters of Engineering, both from Purdue University.

 

 

John Allen Bradley
Protection Consultant

 

John Allen Bradley worked for TVA for eleven years beginning his career in the Fossil Design group.  John Allen spent the last nine years in TVA’s System Protection and Analysis group where he was responsible for specifying relaying setpoints, coordination for all areas of the TVA system including fossil, hydro, and nuclear generating plants and transmission substations.  Prior to joining TVA John Allen was an industrial electrician for six years before returning to school to earn his bachelor’s degree with a 4.0 grade point average.   

 

John Allen has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida and also an Associates of Science in Electronics Technology from UEI.

 

 

Joshua Q. Perkins, P.E.
Protection Consultant

 

Josh Perkins has over five years of experience working in the power system industry since his 2 year internship at TVA. During this time, he has performed conceptual and detailed protection and control system design on over 100 projects, ranging from 13kV to 500kV, at various substations, switching stations and fossil, hydro, and nuclear plants. He also has experience setting protective relays, developing equipment specifications, providing engineering calculations, preparing engineering studies, preparing technical reports, and extensive experience developing client standard and customized relay logic files for numerous protection and control applications. He is a registered professional engineer in multiple states and is a member of IEEE.    

 

Josh has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and is pursuing an MBA.

 

Sarah B. Kilgore, P.E.
Protection Consultant

Sarah has over fifteen years of experience working as a consulting engineer in the power system industry.  As a design engineer, Sarah performed multiple long-range planning and short circuit studies, provided protective relays settings, and was responsible for developing equipment specifications and evaluating bids. She also obtained extensive experience in physical layout, grounding and conduit design, protection and control design, and coordination with material suppliers and clients for a variety of projects ranging from 13kV distribution substations to 138kV GIS. As a lead engineer, Sarah was responsible for managing substation department staff, mentoring new hires, and performing independent peer reviews of her staff’s work to ensure the design deliverables met client standard practices and procedures.  As a project manager, Sarah was responsible for developing engineering and material cost estimates, coordinating multi-discipline projects, defining project scope, and building and maintaining a positive working relationship with clients. She is a registered professional engineer in multiple states and is a member of IEEE.     

Sarah has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University and is currently pursuing a Certificate in Power System Protection from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. 

 

 

Meeting the needs of our customers is job one.  We hold ourselves to the highest standard both technically and ethically.