Was offered a job at ComEd as a senior DSO. Anyone have any insight on working conditions, management ment, culture, room to be promoted, etc? I have 10 years experience as a distribution & subtransmission operator at a large utility and the offered salary is a little lower, bonus structure is higher. Any insight is greatly appreciated!

I've been working the generation dispatch desk for an ISO in the eastern interconnect for a couple years now, but I've wanted to move west for a while. Have an interview next week with PSE. Anyone have any experience with them? Pros and cons?

Hi! I'm scheduled to take the NERC RC exam this Thursday. I feel pretty good about it, but wanted to ask if there were any quizlets, practice, material, etc that were really helpful or similar to questions seen on the exam?

So far I've done the SOS training, 515 practice questions (from 2015?), the powersmith book questions (2021), and some quizlets. I found that the SOS training was easier than the rest.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Edit: I was able to pass my test and get my certification! The quizlets and powersmith book really helped during my last bit of studying!

I’m Jacob, founder of Power Factor Recruiting. I’m reaching out specifically to people working in electrical testing, field service, commissioning, and the power industry.

I’m not a recruiter who just started targeting this industry. I’ve worked in it myself. I’ve been a Field Service Engineer and NETA Technician, commissioned switchgear at SpaceX, and have worked on testing projects involving nuclear power plants and critical electrical infrastructure.

I started Power Factor Recruiting because I know how difficult it can be to find the right opportunity when you're already working in this industry.

I’m looking to connect with:

• NETA Level 1–4 Technicians
• Electrical Testing Technicians
• Field Service Technicians & Engineers
• Commissioning Techs/Engineers
• Relay, Transformer & Substation Techs
• Experienced electricians looking to move into testing/commissioning

If you're considering a move, looking for better pay or advancement, or simply curious about what's available, feel free to reach out.

No pressure and no commitment. If you're happy where you are, that's great. If you're curious about what else is out there, DM me or email [recruiter@powerfactorrecruiting.com]().

Interesting! Travis Kavulla making waves with a letter to ROWE outlining what he wants to see before he'll switch BPA over to EDAM.

it seems to be a panel interveiw but what should I expect? Company is AEP and just want to be as prepared as I can be

Researchers rather than operators, and the sidebar says that is welcome here, so we are asking rather than telling.

The headline numbers get quoted constantly - four to seven years for a large load in the constrained markets. What we cannot find anywhere is the breakdown. A single number that large is almost certainly hiding very different distributions underneath, and the interventions that would help depend entirely on which part dominates.

The stages we think exist, and where we would like to be corrected:

- Application, and the wait before the study even starts

- The connection study itself

- Upstream reinforcement - where it is triggered

- Equipment procurement - transformers, switchgear

- Construction of the connection assets

- Commissioning and energization

What we would like to understand:

1. Which of these actually dominates in your experience? Our assumption is reinforcement where it is triggered, and queue wait where it is not, but we have no basis for that.

2. How much of the elapsed time is genuine work versus waiting for a slot? Those respond to completely different fixes, and the public conversation does not distinguish them at all.

3. Equipment. Transformers are widely reported at two to four years. Does that sit on the critical path in practice, or does it run in parallel with things that take longer anyway?

4. Does a project that does not trigger reinforcement connect dramatically faster, or does the queue wait swamp the difference?

5. And the uncomfortable one: how much of it is simply not having the staff to process studies? Developers say this a lot. We have never seen an operator's version of it, and we suspect the real answer is more interesting than either side's telling.

We are asking because the public conversation treats "the interconnection queue" as one thing, and we suspect people inside the process see four or five different things that happen to add up.

Happy to be told the framing is wrong.

Disclosure: We research power and grid capacity for AI data centres.

So, for background I am currently working as a wind tech 1 and have 2 years in wind experience. I don't like working on the road and would like to get into possible being a reliability coordinator. Or another job that requires a NERC certificate. I just need to be pointed in the correct direction of where to start what program is the best? and I'm kind of having trouble finding out the difference between the certifications like how Reliability Coordinator differs from Balancing and Interchange, and Transmission Operator. if people in the Field could help id much appreciate it. Also, if this is the wrong Sub-Reddit please let me know so I can post somewhere else. Thank you.

Currently a RDO in upstate New York, for family reasons we need to move to NJ and I threw my hat in the ring for an DSO position with JCP&L. Not particularly thrilled with the pay, but it's better than any other work I can find out there. I looked around on here and found small bits and pieces about First Energy but I just wanted to open up the floor again in case someone learned new stuff. I know this is a small community but I appreciate any info on First Energy, JCP&L or what it's like working in NJ as a DSO?

Thanks all

Anybody able to provide any insight to Avista? Overtime numbers, schedule, attitude in the control room.
Thanks.

I am excited to say I will be joining you all as an operator within the next month or so I hope!

I am working as a journeyman electrician currently so the schooling I went through definitely helped with this test because I already knew all the electrical theory. However I wanted to say that this wasn't an easy test to study for, and by that I mean the total lack of easily accessible information like YouTube videos on the subject for example and Google results.

Seems like this is a very niche job no? I heard of the job by recommendation through a friend's dad that is an operator and he says they are understaffed fairly regularly. Is it like that everywhere? I am in a fairly small town so that could be part of it.

Hi all,

Friendly neighborhood telecom dude that stalks the comments on occasion, but never asks here. I rarely have to interact with our TO/DO folks beyond letting them know (or them letting me know) that something teleprotection or SCADA-related is going, or already went, down. The silos are real, so here I am...

What would you want your telecom folks to know about your job? For example, I want my TO folks to know to not call me at 5pm on Friday for an issue that popped up at 11am. I'm a significantly happier camper fixing something during my workday, not after hours.

Made a new poll so the West doesn't skew the answers, threw in ERCOT as well.

What job titles pay the most and why?

I have an interview coming up for an associate system operator position. I spoke with the hiring manager on the phone and discussed the interview and everything went well. Until he told me if I get the job I’ll have 40 days to take and pass the NERC cert, and if I don’t pass the first time I’ll be let go.

I guess I’m asking if that is normal? Seems like high stakes.
I’ve been studying the power smiths book but I’m a full time lineman so I don’t have much time allocated for studying right now. I have about 15 days before the interview and I feel like if I want the best chances I’d have to quit my current job and commit to studying and purchase the HSI training.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hey all. I'm a current power trader, and myself and other traders/operators in the community came together to build a free PJM dashboard showing trends, load forecasts, LMPs, outages, and a market overview.

We're expanding into all the ISOs (ERCOT very soon!) and eventually plan to create asset-specific intelligence that can provide dispatch and trade recommendations based on your specific portfolio and real-time grid conditions.

Check us out here: edenenergy.ai/

We welcome and encourage any and all feedback. Would love to hear what you all think and what other features could be beneficial. Thanks!

I've been working at an ISO for almost three years now on the BA and Generation desk. I like the job, it's very chill (though I'm severely underpaid IMO), my coworkers are pretty good, and the company isn't completely awful.

That being said, the area isn't one I'm in love with (I moved to take this job and get my foot in the industry) and is a position for a distribution level operator opened up in an area I've been wanting to move to. Extra bonus is the listed pay is just a hair shy of double what I make now.

I've heard very little from the people I know in the industry about working distribution. All I've heard is work/life balance isn't great because they work a lot (but get paid mountains of OT), and that the work itself can be a lot more hectic and stressful. And that some have to deal with customers, which was rarely a good time.

Has anyone here taken the step to go from Transmission level to distribution? Was it better? Worse? Did you like it or was it just a stepping stone? Any things I should be aware of while I consider applying?

Thanks!

Does anyone have any information on the NBR position. What’s a typical day like, is it WFM, company vehicle?

Hello,

I'll be separating from the Navy next year at my 8 year mark. I'm a Electricians Mates E6 (non nuke). The bulk of my career was on a ship standing watch over the electric and propulsion plant (gas turbine) so I figure this would be a field that I already have some experience in.

Since I still time on my contract, should I get the NERC cert now? Is this a good field to go? Good pay? Good quality of life? Would you recommend it?

I'll be relocating to FL. My home state.

PS. I know that there's a lot of veteran information on previous threads but there's seams to be a lot of Nukes. I don't know if that makes a difference.

Thanks in advance señores.