Abstract: An electronic protective relay emulates an electromechanical protective relay so that operation of the two types of relays can be coordinated in providing protection in an electric power distribution system. The electronic protective relay incorporates a digital processor which increments a variable delay tally as an inverse current function and a fixed delay tally by a corresponding proportionate amount. During each running of the routine, only the smaller of the two tallies is increased so that they are forced to track one another. When both tallies reach a trip value, a trip signal is generated. The processor also applied a reset function when the measured current is below a pickup value. In accordance with the preferred reset feature, the variable delay tally is reduced using an inverse current function and the fixed delay is reduced by the same amount.