Electrical Engineer, Transmission Planning (Staff, Senior, or Principal)

Are you looking for an exciting job where you can put your skills and talents to work at a company you can feel proud to be a part of? Do you want a workplace that will challenge you and offer you opportunities to learn and grow?  A  position at Xcel Energy could be just what you’re looking for.

The job summary below and responsibilities reflect the senior engineer level role. The successfully chosen candidate will be placed at a level that is commensurate with their skills and experience as different skills and/or experience will be required at the staff and principal engineer levels.  

Position Summary

Applies extensive technical expertise and has full knowledge of other related disciplines.  Performs as a staff advisor and consultant in a technical specialty, a type of facility or equipment, or a program function.  Carries out complex or innovative assignments requiring the development of new or improved techniques and procedures. Work is expected to result in the development of new/improved techniques and procedures or new/refined equipment, materials, processes, products, and/or scientific methods.  Represents the organization as the prime technical contact on contracts and projects and interacts with senior external personnel on significant technical matters often requiring coordination between organizations.  Work is performed without appreciable direction and considerable latitude is exercised in determining technical objectives of assignment.  Guidance relates largely to overall objectives, critical issues, new concepts and policy matters.  Completed work is reviewed from a relatively long- term perspective, for desired results.  May assign tasks to and direct engineers, technicians, craft personnel and administrative staff, including coordination and review of work assignments.  Responsible for (and may lead) multiple projects of moderate to large size or portions of major projects.  

Key Role Elements

Specific elements vary depending on job level

Perform Comprehensive Power System Planning Studies, including:

• Steady-State Load Flow Analysis under normal and contingency conditions (N-1, N-1-1, and extreme events) to identify system limitations and develop mitigation strategies.

• Short-Circuit and Protection Coordination Studies to ensure appropriate equipment ratings, relay coordination, and breaker duty compliance, including assessments for system modifications and new interconnections.

• Dynamic Performance Assessments, including Transient Stability and Small-Signal Stability Studies to evaluate rotor angle stability, voltage recovery, and oscillatory damping performance under a wide range of system disturbances.

• Electromagnetic Transient (EMT) Analysis for evaluating control interactions and fast dynamic phenomena associated with large power electronic loads (e.g., data centers), inverter-based resources (IBRs), and FACTS devices, leveraging PSCAD/EMTDC.

• Geomagnetic Induced Current (GIC) Studies aligned with NERC TPL-007 standards to assess geomagnetic disturbance impacts on transformers and bulk electric system reliability.

Support Regulatory Compliance and Model Validation Activities:

• Perform NERC TPL-001-5.1 compliance assessments, including extreme event analyses such as CIP-014 physical security risk assessments, wide-area event simulations, and black start restoration studies.

• Support dynamic model validation efforts per WECC and NERC MOD standards, ensuring fidelity of generator, inverter, and composite load models for stability studies.

Conduct Advanced Inverter-Based Resource (IBR) Integration Studies:

• Assess grid-forming/grid-following inverter technologies and their impact on system strength, transient behavior, and control interactions.

• Apply IEEE 2800 requirements for IBR performance, including ride-through, reactive power support, and fast frequency response capabilities.

• Address challenges of high renewable penetration and develop mitigation strategies to maintain bulk power system reliability.

Support Western Interconnection and Regional Planning:

• Coordinate with WestConnect Planning Management Committee, WECC Reliability Subcommittees, and interconnection working groups to support transmission expansion planning, regional policy compliance, and reliability initiatives.

• Engage in regional and subregional transmission planning processes, contributing to multi-utility studies and cross-border resource integration scenarios.

Perform Resource Interconnection and Transmission Service Studies:

• Execute System Impact Studies (SIS) and Facility Studies