Pacific Gas and Electric

Expert Grid Innovation Engineer -- Microgrid


PayCompetitive
LocationOakland/California
Employment typeFull-Time

This job is now closed

  • Job Description

      Req#: 154025

      Requisition ID # 154025

      Job Category: Engineering / Science

      Job Level: Individual Contributor

      Business Unit: Engineering, Planning & Strategy

      Work Type: Hybrid

      Job Location: Oakland; Alameda; Alta; American Canyon; Angels Camp; Antioch; Auberry; Auburn; Avenal; Avila Beach; Bakersfield; Balch Camp; Bear Valley; Belden; Bellota; Belmont; Benicia; Berkeley; Brentwood; Brisbane; Buellton; Burney; Buttonwillow; Calistoga; Campbell; Canyon Dam; Canyondam; Capitola; Caruthers; Chico; Clearlake; Clovis; Coalinga; Colusa; Concord; Concord; Corcoran; Cottonwood; Cupertino; Daly City; Danville; Davis; Dinuba; Downieville; Dublin; Emeryville; Eureka; Fairfield; Folsom; Fort Bragg; Fortuna; Fremont; French Camp; Fresno; Fresno; Fulton; Garberville; Geyserville; Gilroy; Goodyear; Grass Valley; Guerneville; Half Moon Bay; Hayward; Hinkley; Hollister; Holt; Houston; Huron; Jackson; Kerman; King City; Lakeport; Lemoore; Lincoln; Linden; Livermore; Lodi; Loomis; Los Banos; Lower Lake; Madera; Magalia; Manteca; Manton; Mariposa; Martell; Marysville; Maxwell; Menlo Park; Merced; Meridian; Millbrae; Milpitas; Modesto; Monterey; Montgomery Creek; Morgan Hill; Morro Bay; Moss Landing; Mountain View; Napa; Needles; Newark; Newman; Novato; Oakdale; Oakhurst; Oakley; Olema; Orinda; Orland; Oroville; Palo Alto; Palo Cedro; Paradise; Parkwood; Paso Robles; Petaluma; Pioneer; Pismo Beach; Pittsburg; Placerville; Pleasant Hill; Point Arena; Potter Valley; Quincy; Rancho Cordova; Red Bluff; Redding; Richmond; Ridgecrest; Rio Vista; Rocklin; Roseville; Round Mountain; Sacramento; Salida; Salinas; San Bruno; San Carlos; San Francisco; San Francisco; San Jose; San Luis Obispo; San Mateo; San Rafael; San Ramon; San Ramon; Sanger; Santa Cruz; Santa Maria; Santa Nella; Santa Rosa; Selma; Shaver Lake; Sonoma; Sonora; South San Francisco; Springville; Stockton; Storrie; Taft; Tracy; Turlock; Twain; Ukiah; Vacaville; Vallejo; Walnut Creek; Wasco; Washington; Watsonville; West Sacramento; Wheatland; Whitmore; Willits; Willow Creek; Willows; Windsor; Winters; Woodland; Yuba City

      Department Overview

      Help us change the electric utility industry from the inside! Join a small, high-performing team within Pacific Gas & Electric Company that is working on a portfolio of exciting and innovative projects to transform the electric grid into a smarter grid. The Grid Innovation team is charting the future of the utility and the energy industry as part of the Engineering, Planning & Strategy division of PG&E.

      Grid Innovation evaluates and demonstrates emerging technologies, concepts and processes that PG&E will need to design and operate the resilient energy system of the future. Toward that end, the team works collaboratively with diverse stakeholders across the enterprise to design, build and test product strategies, roadmaps and implementation plans for innovation. The current focus of the Grid Innovation team is to build and advance products and processes to operationalize Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) including battery energy storage (BES), Solar PV, microgrids and Remote Grid Solutions.

      Position Summary

      This Grid Innovation Engineer will play a central role in defining the technology roadmap for community microgrids at PG&E and will provide technical support to community stakeholders and local and tribal governments considering critical facility microgrid projects.

      A strong applicant will be an organized and motivated consensus builder. This execution-oriented candidate will collaborate with PG&E technical subject matter experts and external vendors to develop standard microgrid solutions and documentation and provide technical leadership to drive execution of inflight and planned projects.

      This position is hybrid, working from your remote office and your assigned work location based on business need. The assigned work location will be within the PG&E Service Territory. Work location will be determined by hiring leader and successful candidate. This position is classified as a “hybrid remote” (0-3 days in the office) and also may require occasional travel within the PG&E service territory to project site locations.

      PG&E is providing the salary range that the company in good faith believes it might pay for this position at the time of the job posting. This compensation range is specific to the locality of the job. The actual salary paid to an individual will be based on multiple factors, including, but not limited to, specific skills, education, licenses or certifications, experience, market value, geographic location, and internal equity.

      A reasonable salary range is:

      Bay Area Minimum: $132,000

      Bay Area Maximum: $226,000

      And/Or

      California Minimum: $125,000

      California Maximum: $215,000

      Job Responsibilities

      • Providing technical guidance and consulting support for proposed community microgrid projects including coordination with 3rd party DER developers, community organizations, critical facility customers and other engineering functions within PG&E including, Planning, Interconnection, Distribution Operations, System Protection and others
      • Developing tools and processes to assess microgrid opportunities and other resiliency alternatives
      • Leading development of technical guidelines for microgrid design, configuration and operational protocols for multi-customer microgrids hosted on PG&E’s distribution grid
      • Evaluating inverter and microgrid controls hardware and software suppliers for effective integration into PG&E systems
      • Developing and documenting Microgrid best practices and technical standards that can be applied to different geographies and use cases
      • Communicating complex technical topics to a variety of audiences (technical and non-technical, leadership, external stakeholders, etc.)
      • Acting as a technical subject matter expert in relevant policy and regulatory discussions, working groups or proceedings
      • Providing teammates with technical support and guidance on related projects and initiatives within the Grid Innovation portfolio as needed potentially including DERMS and Remote Grids

      Qualifications

      Minimum:

      • Bachelor’s in Engineering from an accredited college or equivalent job-experience that provides an understanding of the underlying physics of how the electric grid is engineered and operated
      • Experience with Grid Modeling Software (e.g. CYMDIST, PSLF, Aspen, etc.)
      • 7 years of electric utility related experience

      Desired:

      • Master’s in Engineering
      • Professional Engineer (P.E.) license
      • 5 years of experience deploying distributed energy resources with a developer or EPC firm.
      • Experience modeling and designing microgrids
      • Protection System Engineering experience
      • Experience leading technology pilots and/or implementations, with a focus on emerging/innovative technology
      • Experience developing and documenting technical standards and processes or design guide artifacts
      • Demonstratable technical knowledge of solar PV, inverters, energy storage, conventional generation and/or microgrid controllers
      • Understanding of distribution grid design, system planning/operations engineering practices and tools (e.g., CYME, or other equivalent software for power system modeling)
      • Working knowledge of control system communication protocols (e.g. Modbus, CAN, etc.)
      • Working knowledge of California Rule 21 and Wholesale Distribution Tariff (WDT) Interconnection process and considerations.

      Desired Characteristics:

      • Ability to work in a matrixed environment and a positive execution-oriented mentality
      • Ability to effectively communicate highly complex ideas with credibility, confidence, and clarity to diverse audiences using a variety of media
      • Ability to solve unique and complex problems, anticipating issues and developing innovative solutions
      • Ability to handle multiple projects and stakeholders and work in a fast-paced environment
      • Ability to be creative, versatile, efficient and productive in the face of ambiguity

  • About the company

      The Pacific Gas and Electric Company is an American investor-owned utility with publicly-traded stock.