After a four-year tour in the Navy as a 3rd Class Boiler Technician, Ron Eldred Jr. obtained employment as an Operation and Maintenance Technician for PG&E at their East Syracuse generating facility. Ron moved his way up to Sr. Operator after 2 1/2 years of employment. In 1998, due to deregulation, the plant's power purchase agreement was bought out by the local utility. The company elected to sell the facility and Ron's only option to remain part of the company was to transfer to the Millennium Power Plant in Charlton, MA. After a 1-year temporary assignment in the company's Boston office, Ron sold his home in N.Y. and moved his family to Holland, MA., to begin his employment at Millennium Power as a Lead Operations and Maintenance Technician. The only obstacle in his way was obtaining the required Mass. state 2nd Class Engineers License. Ron soon learned of the complexity of the written and oral exams and turned to NRG Educational Services for help in learning the material. If he were unable to obtain this license by the date given, he would lose his job. On December 4, 2000, Ron passed the exam and received his license just one month prior to the required date. In January 2001, Ron was promoted to Operations Coordinator. As part of his duties, he would back up the Chief Engineer and was given one year to obtain the 1st Class Engineer License necessary for the position. With the plant going through the initial start-up to commercial operation, requiring 60-70 hour work weeks, Ron realized he could not face this challenge alone. Once again, he turned to NRG Educational Services for the course study required to pass the exams. After graduating NRG with a 90 G.P.A., Ron obtained the license with two weeks to spare.