Job Details
Description
Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is about more than power. We're about the power of relationships. Our employees have the opportunity to work together to ensure electricity is delivered reliably and affordably to the millions of people living in our service territory. We have been voted one of Arkansas' Best Places to work by Arkansas Business and we are looking for a member of our team who is passionate about our mission to keep the lights on!
We have a core ideology here at SPP that we stand by: Do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way.
We believe in supporting our employees through a fantastic benefits package:
- Competitive pay with bonus opportunities
- Excellent insurance package including three great medical plans to choose from, employer-paid short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
- Relocation assistance
- Flexible working environment for positions that are eligible where employees have the flexibility to work from home and come in where collaborative in person work is needed.
- Fantastic contributions to your retirement through a 401(k) savings plan with employer-match benefits and a defined benefit plan fully funded by SPP
Overview
The Planning Specialist, Modeling is responsible for supporting and/or leading applicable activities/tasks required to perform and/or complete the development of Planning models of the SPP electrical transmission system. This includes, data gathering, technical and data analyses, model building, and business case development supporting Integrated Transmission Planning (ITP), Model Development Advisory Group (MDAG) and Multiregional Modeling Working Group (MMWG) processes, Tariff Studies, and coordination/compliance with applicable FERC, NERC and SPP Tariffs requirements. This also includes assisting with development of quarterly and annual reports, metrics measurements, and creation of proposals and business assessments as well as support of any special studies or projects for Southwest Power Pool, Inc.
The incumbent will work closely with SPP's Engineering and other Departments, applicable SPP Stakeholder staff, personnel from FERC, NERC and state regulatory authorities and other Industry professionals.
The authority of and supervision required for this position varies based upon the project and the level of experience of the Specialist. In all cases, the employee is expected to work with minimal supervision. As such, an excellent working relationship and communication with all parties must be established and maintained to ensure the accomplishment of the goals and objectives of organization. Communication, both written and oral, will be used for the purposes of requests, analysis, coordinating, guidance, and presentations
Essential Functions
Technical Concepts and Tools:
- Exhibit an advanced level of understanding of key SPP power systems and associated knowledge of power system issues and concerns.
- Develop and use familiarity and expertise with SPP power system modeling and analysis tools as well as processes.
- Proficient with the most relevant SPP Modeling and Engineering tools for receiving and processing model data as well as developing, reviewing and analyzing models and data developed by the Modeling group and others.
Technical Responsibilities:
- Develop and use complex Modeling and modeling data gathering processes and identify process improvement opportunities by using industry specific knowledge and process management skills.
- Develop and present with the Modeling engineers robust Planning models (MDAG, MMWG, ITP (Base Reliability (BR), Market Economic Models (MEM), Market Powerflow Models (MPM)), etc.) for use in Engineering study processes in accordance with applicable SPP governing documents, NERC Standards (MOD-032, etc.), FERC Orders, etc.
- Assists Modeling and Engineering management and staff with any Ad Hoc models and special projects as well as with the development of analytical solutions for transmission model creation and review/validation needed
- Develops metrics for analyzing performance of Modeling processes/procedures, analyzes applicable metrics and provides summary of results
Governing Processes:
- Detailed understanding of specific governing documents and processes will be required depending on specific support needs
Stakeholder Relationships:
- Develop positive stakeholder technical, supervisory, leadership and/or management level relationships as necessary to accomplish SPP objectives and assigned directives
- Assist with and help lead specific assignments as directed by more experienced engineers or supervisor to develop necessary technical stakeholder relationships to collect data and share results. In these cases, facilitate stakeholder feedback discussions to reach a positive stakeholder consensus, to the fullest extent possible
- Develop basic staff secretary skills (Meeting minutes, action items, Robert's Rules of Order, etc.) for technical working groups by providing technical & logistical support to active staff secretaries
- Provide support to state commissions and work with the SPP legal team to support their questions
Technical Judgment:
- Analyze current Engineering/Planning modeling data submittal activities via the Engineering Data Submission Tool (EDST), Model on Demand (MOD) and other tools, and make recommendations regarding requirements necessary for compliance with NERC MOD-032 and SPP Tariff modeling requirements and other NERC/regulatory standards, as applicable
- Analyze complex technical engineering data to support, modify, and develop database processes and administration for use with Modeling department functions regarding the MDAG, ITP, MEM, MPM, RCAR and any ad-hoc model development
- Exercise advanced decision making skills to help support technical studies and services to adapt between standard and non-standard techniques
- Develop reviews and analyze reports for the MDAG data submittal via modeling tools of engineering, and business data for compliance with or support of general business rules, state and federal requirements and SPP transmission development objectives
- Develop recommendations and improvements to the modeling processes to integrate NTC and transmission project tracking requirements
Southwest Power Pool Inc.
415 N McKinley
Little Rock
Arkansas United States
www.spp.org
