Imagine having electricity for only two or three hours a day. Or sweltering in the Georgia heat and humidity due to a lack of power. Our nation’s electric grid can't function without good engineering talent.

To recognize future engineering leaders and retain local student engineering talent, Walton EMC has established a scholarship program.

The Walton EMC Engineering Leadership Scholarship Fund will provide five $10,000 scholarships to students who study one of the bachelor degree programs within the University of Georgia College of Engineering. The scholarship is open to residents of the counties Walton EMC serves, which include Athens-Clarke, Barrow, DeKalb, Greene, Gwinnett, Morgan, Newton, Oconee, Rockdale and Walton.

To apply, students must be majoring or intending to major in any bachelor degree program within the College of Engineering and have a minimum 3.7 grade point average. Recipients will remain eligible for up to four years if they keep a 3.7 GPA in their chosen engineering discipline.

To learn more about the scholarship, visit engineering.uga.edu/scholarships/undergraduate/application. The deadline is May 31.

“Cultivating good engineers is critical to every facet of our nation’s infrastructure,” said Walton EMC CEO Ronnie Lee. “Our customer-owners expect ­– and rightly so – excellent electric service. Sound engineering is the foundation we build on to deliver that promise.”

“I am extremely grateful for the generosity of Walton EMC in supporting our students at the College of Engineering,” said Donald J. Leo, the College’s dean. “Partnerships like this are an essential component of our goal to attract and retain top engineering talent from across Georgia. CEO Lee and his team have helped establish a meaningful scholarship program, which can serve as a template for other organizations with whom we partner.”

The scholarship funds come from unclaimed capital credits.

Customer-owners who move off Walton EMC’s grid may be due capital credit refunds. In some instances, those checks are returned by the post office because of an incorrect forwarding address. After Walton EMC exhausts all efforts to find the rightful owner, Georgia law allows this money to be used for community development and educational projects.