Long-Term Transmission Planner

Position Description

Seattle City Light, a department of the City of Seattle, is one of the nation’s largest municipally owned utilities in terms of the number of customers served. Over the years we have worked very hard to keep Seattle's electricity affordable, reliable, and environmentally sound. Today, City Light is a recognized national leader in energy efficiency and environmental stewardship.

Seattle City Light’s Resource Planning & Analysis unit is looking for a Senior Power Analyst, Long-Term Transmission Planner to join the team. This role will, under limited supervision, perform complex analyses such as developing economic and statistical models involving transmission resources. The position will also facilitate and work with technical studies related to various aspects of electric resources including developing plans, strategies, and alternatives for considering the value of various power supply resources toward meeting the priorities of Seattle City Light.

This position will report to the Manager of Resource Planning & Analysis.

Job Responsibilities

Here Is More About What You’ll Be Doing

This position, under limited supervision, will be responsible for deploying economic, computational, and statistical techniques to model and value transmission resources as part of comprehensive resource planning, resource acquisition, and resource cost/value forecasting. The successful candidate will demonstrate creative problem solving and effective leadership, teamwork, and interpersonal skills. If you enjoy creative problem solving, computational modeling, and evaluating transmission resource choices and operating strategies, we want to hear from you.

Duties Of This Position Include

- Supports development of and serves as the main user for computational economic and statistical models used for evaluating long-term transmission portfolio cost and value.

- Facilitates both the initial design, scoping, and continuous improvements for studies, models, and reports for evaluating transmission on all planning horizons.

- Conducts research, models, and analyzes the value energy and power capacity of new transmission projects and technologies for potential acquisition by the utility.

- Provides technical leadership in scoping, developing, and maintaining planning and decision-making tools.

- Develops documentation and user guides to assist others in working with transmission models.

- Reviews, interprets, evaluates, and models contracts and agreements concerning transmission and coordination activities.

- Represents the department on a variety of multi-jurisdictional committees and study groups concerned with transmission planning, contracts, agreements, and cooperative efforts.

- Negotiates and administers consultant contracts by developing budgets and scopes of work, monitoring progress, and approving work on consultants’ products.

- Prepares detailed correspondence for other utilities, regulatory agencies, and other department and City officials.

- Develops summaries and reports to help explain analyses to key decision makers, as well as to both technical and general audiences.

- Presents rationale of findings in easy-to-understand terms for senior management and external stakeholders.

- Performs other related duties of a comparable level/type as assigned.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications: Skills In addition to the skills and experience mentioned below, a successful applicant will have experience that reflects a commitment to creating fair and equitable outcomes and has:

Five years experience in power management, utility operations, hydrology, engineering, math, or statistics, or two years experience as a Power Analyst and a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering, Math, Economics, or other scientific area (Combinations of education, training and experience will be evaluated on an individual basis for comparability).

Work Environment/Physical Demands

- Work is performed in a normal City work/office environment.

- May be required to travel to remote locations or long distances to attend meetings.

License, Certification And Other Requirements

Current Washington State driver's license or evidence of equivalent mobility.

Desired Qualifications - You will be successful if you have the following experience, skills, and abilities:

At this point, we hope you're feeling excited about the job description you’re reading. Even if you don't feel that you meet every single desired qualification, we still encourage you to apply. We're eager to meet people who believe in our mission and can contribute to our team in a variety of ways - not just candidates who check all the boxes. We want people to feel comfortable expressing their true selves and to come, stay, and do their best work here.

You will likely be successful in this role if you have some combination of the following experience, skills, and abilities:

- Experience with:

- Long-term wholesale transmission modeling

- Long-term regional transmission research

- Long-term power supply models used in integrated resource planning, such as capacity expansion, production cost, and reliability assessment models

- Building optimization models and implementing them with open source or commercial optimization software (e.g. CPLEX, Gurobi, XPRESS)

- Knowledge of:

- Mathematical modeling and/or optimization for decision making under uncertainty

- Statistical evaluation of risk and uncertainty

- Utility transmission planning and software (e.g. SCL planners use PowerWorld)

- Proficiency in:

- Coding in modern programming languages like Python, R, or Julia

- Using productivity software like Microsoft Excel, Word, and Power Point

- Working with relational databases, especially those using structured query languages (SQL)

- Designing studies, numerical experiments, and secondary research

- Energy systems modeling

- Ability to:

- Communicate complex issues to both technical audiences and the public

- Manage shifting priorities well and to think strategically about the problems faced by City Light

- Creative problem-solving skills

- Excellent teamwork and communication skills

- Comfortable working with policymakers and stakeholders from varied backgrounds

Please note this job advertisement is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice

.

Additional Information

The full salary range for this position is $63.93 to $74.37 per hour.

Application Process Please Submit The Following With Your Online Application

- A cover letter in which you clearly describe how your knowledge, experience, skills, and abilities prepare you for the job responsibilities and qualifications outlined in the job announcement

- A current resume of your educational and professional work experience.

Incomplete applications may not be accepted.

Who May Apply : This position is open to all candidates that meet the qualifications. Seattle City Light values diverse perspectives and life experiences. Applicants will be considered regardless of race, color, creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, marital status, disability, religious or political affiliation, age, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Seattle City Light encourages people of all backgrounds to apply, including people of color, immigrants, refugees, women, LGBTQIA+, people with disabilities, veterans, and those with diverse life experiences.

Job offers are contingent on the verification of credentials and other information required by the employment process, including the completion of a background check. The background check will involve a criminal history check, which includes conviction and arrest records in compliance with the Seattle’s Fair Chance Employment Ordinance, SMC 14.17 and the City of Seattle Personnel Rule 10.3. A driving history review may be conducted in compliance with SMC 4.79.020. Applicants will be provided an opportunity to explain or correct background information.

The City of Seattle offers a comprehensive benefits package including vacation, holiday, and sick leave as well as medical, dental, vision, life and long-term disability insurance for employees and their dependents. More information about employee benefits is available on the City's website at: https://www.seattle.gov/human-resources/benefits/employees-and-covered-family-members/most-employees-plans.

Want to know more about Seattle City Light? Check out our web page: https://www.seattle.gov/city-light/about-us/careers.