The Director of Interconnection will serve as the lead for the company’s interconnection activities from a market and commercial perspective, with primary responsibilities including the evaluation of transmission and distribution tariffs, costs, timelines, designs, and processes for a variety of markets. This position will participate in the development of the overall strategic plan for both the development team and the broader business.
What You’ll Do
- Manage and track the project portfolio of interconnection-related studies and tasks, schedules, and follow-up requirements.
- Lead a team of 4-8 Interconnection Engineers, manage their KPIs, growth plans
- Lead continuous improvement of interconnection processes and standards
- Act as the lead point of contact with independent system operators, regional transmission organizations, transmission service providers, and utilities regarding all interconnection activities.
- Lead the information exchange process as it relates to interconnection applications between the pre-construction team, engineering team, and development team to ensure schedule milestones are met
- Identify optimal strategies for state and regional project interconnections based on system impacts and available grid/hosting capacity; develop the best plan for new markets team
- Lead coordination of the completion of all interconnection applications with internal stakeholders, external consultants, and utilities. Lead the review, analysis, and interpretation of interconnection results.
- Identify, contract, and manage consultants as necessary to support the interconnection process including application deliverables and studies in addition to engineering review of utility schedules and cost estimates.
- Evaluate interconnection system cost upgrades and work with all stakeholders on necessary changes to the project development schedule.
- Perform (internally or externally) power flow simulation analyses to forecast future system conditions to support optimal siting, IA, PPA, financing, and M&A processes
- Provide interconnection information for bid proposals.
- Work with the Development team to identify issues that could impact site selection by reviewing the interconnection queue in utility/ISO regions and provide feedback to the Development team.
- Issue disputes and manage dispute resolution as needed
- Understand interconnection process, timelines, and cost structures for key utilities and ISO’s and communicate requirements with the Development, Pre-Construction, and Engineering teams.
- Communicate on a regular basis with manager and team members, including in-person meetings at the NYC headquarters as needed to foster strong collaboration amongst team
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering.
- Minimum of 8+ years of industry experience and expertise in generation interconnection and transmission planning, acquired at a large infrastructure developer, electric utility, transmission provider, or energy consultancy.
- Experience navigating markets such as CAISO, PJM, SPP, ISO-NE, or other RTOs.
- Firm understanding of AC/DC fundamentals including understanding of three-phase Power systems.
- Experience with power system software packages such as PSS/e, TARA, Aspen One-Liner
- Power flow modeling and analysis experience.
- Ability to comprehend complex Interconnection study reports and communicate project technical and financial impacts.
- Familiarity with RTO and utility tariffs, business practices, protocols, procedures, and guidelines.
- Demonstrated expertise and understanding of U.S. power markets, with a focus on solar and battery energy storage interconnections.
- Extensive knowledge of storage and solar project development, utilities, interconnection, permitting, and contracting.
- Outstanding research and analytical abilities, adept at synthesizing information and communicating conclusions and recommendations clearly and effectively.
- Highly organized and detail-oriented with self-motivation, drive, and a proactive approach to creative problem-solving.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Degree specialized in Electrical Engineering
- PE is preferred.
- In-depth understanding of the protection principles and practices for transmission lines, distribution feeder, and major substation equipment.
Benefits
My client offers a robust of benefits such as but not limited to, the following:
- Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
- Vacation, Sick, and Volunteer days
- 401K with an employer safe harbor match
- Special Vendor Discounts on programs for:
- Identity theft and fraud prevention