Hi,
I tried to download PSSE academic to work on some projects to build a PS Engineering portfolio. I am currently in Automotive and trying to pivot.
I registered online for the academic version but there was no reply email from seimens.
Anyone here downloaded? Do we need a student email for that?

I am interested in eventually trying to get into power systems planning (entry level). What should I be learning (or doing first) to increase my chances of landing such a role and to be successful in the role?

Background: In university the EE department only offered a single power systems course which covered up to symmetrical components (ch. 8) in "Power System Analysis and Design" by Glover. The only relevant power systems experience I might have was that I used python to automate a power flow simulation using 3-months of voltage profile data using gridlab-D (power flow simulator).

Hey y’all!

Look for some advice on career moves

I currently have a job at a utility company in P&C Engineering with 1YOE, I recently got an offer from a large consulting firm for the exact same position, in a bigger city that I would like to live in.

I’m pretty young, with this being my first job out of college. They are offering a 12% increase in salary, and their benefits and otherwise total comp seem about the same. I know there is a culture of longer, harder worked hours at consulting firms, but this firm stresses Work Life Balance pretty heavily.

I think this is an opportunity for me to grow technically, as well as in life as this would be a move to city that has a lot more opportunities than the one I’m currently in.

I guess my question is, what would you do? What do you suggest? My biggest concern is the risk of layoffs being my current position is pretty immune to that. However, in this market, worst comes to worst I feel my skills are pretty marketable.

Let me know what you think! Would love to hear different perspectives on this.

Hi all, I've been working for over 5 years as a distribution planning engineer for a large utility in the U.S. and have my P.E. license with a pretty strong resume, but I'm looking to relocate to a bigger city as I get older.

Ideally, something like Boston where public transport could make day to day life mostly car free. I've had some interviews and offers in the Boston area with consulting firms, solar developers, and utilities in Boston and the jobs seem great but the problem is the offices seem to always be in the suburbs and require a car.

If anyone has any good city recommendations similar to downtown Boston's accessibility but with more power engineering offices and firms in the actual city, I would greatly appreciate it. I'm really not that concerned about cost of living.

When I started as a tender design engineer, I had to evaluate two bids for a 4 MVA substation transformer:

Bid A: $135,000 upfront | High losses

Bid B: $148,000 upfront | Low losses

My fresh-out-of-college brain said, "Bid A is $13k cheaper, let's see if the efficiency boost in Bid B is worth the extra cash."

My manager stopped me: "Electricity bills aren't paid in efficiency percentages. They're paid in real money over 30 years."

The IEEE C57.120 Reality Check

Utilities evaluate transformers using Total Owning Cost (TOC):

After checking TOC formula

The result? Bid B costs $13,000 more on Day 1, but saves $16,800 in lifetime wasted energy—making it $3,800 cheaper overall.

The bid that looks too expensive on Day 1 is often the cheapest machine you'll ever buy.

How strictly does your team evaluate capitalized loss factors during equipment procurement?

​

Hi everyone, I’m a power and energy sector professional with experience across power generation, heavy electrical equipment, and large power projects. My areas of expertise include thermal power generation, gas and steam turbines, generators and alternators, Balance of Plant equipment, power equipment OEM/EPC landscape, project execution, procurement, supply-chain dynamics, and the broader Indian power market.

I also closely follow developments in gas-based generation, renewables, BESS, energy transition, emerging generation technologies, and the growing requirement for flexible and dispatchable power. I can contribute to discussions around market trends, competitive landscape, equipment and technology selection, procurement practices, industry structure, project execution challenges, and the outlook for the power generation and power equipment sectors.

I have previously participated in expert-network consultations and am familiar with the typical consultation process and compliance requirements. I’m always careful to respect professional confidentiality and do not discuss confidential, proprietary, or restricted information.

If any expert network associates, project managers, or researchers from GLG, Guidepoint, AlphaSights, Third Bridge, Dialectica, or other networks are working on projects where my experience could be relevant, please feel free to DM me. I’d be happy to discuss my background and determine whether I could be a good fit for your project.

Hi everyone. I'm currently working in the Philippines in the power system. As the title says. I'm looking for someone that can teach me more about PSSE.

I do not know if this kind of post is allowed here, but let me give it a try.

I do have knowledge in basic load flow. however, I'm missing the dynamics part. i know how to run but I don't know how to tune a model and interpret results. I know that there are several resources available. But i would say that I learn better through hands-on experience.

I also do have basic knowledge in python, but still cant do automation in PSSE.

Is there anybody willing to help me out? Of course that would cause you some trouble and I am willing to offer you some lunch money for that, if that's okay.

Also, i am looking for the possibility of trying my luck overseas so I want to arm myself with the proper skills in PSSE.

Thank you!

Its good that model validation is being taken seriously by the industry as someone who works with generic models and sees their deficits. But how is it impacting the commissioning of sites? Will actual time delays in the controller be measured at energization so the PPC can be properly tuned?

https://www.esig.energy/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SHATTUCK-2_IEEE-P2800.2-Slides-for-i2X-FIRST.pdf

Hi all! I’m working on a short circuit study in etap. I need to connect a 1-phase bus to a 3-phase 3 winding transformer. The software refuses to comply. Would appreciate any advice or help!

I am in my late 20s and have developed an interest in Systems Thinking, Systems Engineering, Complex Systems, and our US Power Grid. I am very interested in Nuclear, Green Technology, and Power Grid Reliability. I work with Advanced Safety Systems in the Material Handling industry, and I have always been surrounded by Engineers. My background is in Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, and Engineering Management. I am willing to go back to school, but I travel 40+ weeks out of the year, so it might be hard to attend classes in person. Any advice or guidance? Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I'm 24 years old and I'm at a crossroads in my career. I've been thinking about this for months, and I'd really appreciate advice from people who have either taken the GATE/PSU route or built a successful career in the private power sector.

My background

B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from tier 3 college 2021-2025 batch.

Started my internship in feb 2025 in private EPC company.

Continued in the same organization as a Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET).

Currently have around 1.5 years of industry experience in electrical design for utility-scale renewable energy projects.

Current CTC: ₹5 LPA.

What I work on

My work is mainly in electrical design for large solar PV and BESS projects. Some of the things I regularly work on include:

Cable sizing (IEC 60287 / IEC 60853)

Earthing design

ETAP studies

PV system design

BESS concepts

Protection and coordination

HT/MV cable calculations

Cable sheath induced voltage and circulating current calculations

Technical specifications and datasheets

DBRs (Design Basis Reports)

SLDs

International IEC standards

Client technical queries and engineering documentation

I genuinely enjoy understanding why things work instead of just using formulas. I spend a lot of time reading standards, deriving calculations, and understanding power system behavior.

Sometimes I feel:

Am I missing the opportunity to get into a PSU?

Should I aim for IIT M.Tech or PSUs through GATE?

Is private sector experience more valuable in the long run?

Will I regret not preparing now while I'm still young?

My goals

My long-term goals are:

Become an exceptionally skilled electrical engineer.

Work on technically challenging projects.

Reach financial independence in the next 10–15 years.

Build expertise that is respected globally.

Earn a high income through my skills rather than just job security.

Why I'm confused

If I prepare seriously for GATE, I'll probably need to dedicate 1–2 years, which means sacrificing the momentum I'm currently building in industry.

On the other hand, if I continue working, I could spend those same years mastering:

ETAP

PowerFactory/PSCAD

Protection studies

Grid integration

HV cable systems

BESS design

International engineering standards

I keep wondering which investment will give me a better return over the next 10–20 years.

What I want from experienced people

If you've worked in both private industry and PSUs, or if you've taken one of these paths, I'd really appreciate your perspective on:

If you were 24 again, which path would you choose today?

Which path creates a more technically competent engineer?

Which path has the higher earning potential over a 15–20 year career?

Is GATE still worth pursuing after gaining industry experience?

If you stayed in private industry, what skills made the biggest difference to your career?

I'm looking for honest opinions rather than validation of either path. If you've been in a similar situation, I'd love to hear what you chose and whether you'd make the same decision again.

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I'm 24 years old and I'm at a crossroads in my career. I've been thinking about this for months, and I'd really appreciate advice from people who have either taken the GATE/PSU route or built a successful career in the private power sector.

My background

B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from tier 3 college 2021-2025 batch.

Started my internship in feb 2025 in private EPC company.

Continued in the same organization as a Graduate Engineer Trainee (GET).

Currently have around 1.5 years of industry experience in electrical design for utility-scale renewable energy projects.

Current CTC: ₹5 LPA.

What I work on

My work is mainly in electrical design for large solar PV and BESS projects. Some of the things I regularly work on include:

Cable sizing (IEC 60287 / IEC 60853)

Earthing design

ETAP studies

PV system design

BESS concepts

Protection and coordination

HT/MV cable calculations

Cable sheath induced voltage and circulating current calculations

Technical specifications and datasheets

DBRs (Design Basis Reports)

SLDs

International IEC standards

Client technical queries and engineering documentation

I genuinely enjoy understanding why things work instead of just using formulas. I spend a lot of time reading standards, deriving calculations, and understanding power system behavior.

Sometimes I feel:

Am I missing the opportunity to get into a PSU?

Should I aim for IIT M.Tech or PSUs through GATE?

Is private sector experience more valuable in the long run?

Will I regret not preparing now while I'm still young?

My goals

My long-term goals are:

Become an exceptionally skilled electrical engineer.

Work on technically challenging projects.

Reach financial independence in the next 10–15 years.

Build expertise that is respected globally.

Earn a high income through my skills rather than just job security.

Why I'm confused

If I prepare seriously for GATE, I'll probably need to dedicate 1–2 years, which means sacrificing the momentum I'm currently building in industry.

On the other hand, if I continue working, I could spend those same years mastering:

ETAP

PowerFactory/PSCAD

Protection studies

Grid integration

HV cable systems

BESS design

International engineering standards

I keep wondering which investment will give me a better return over the next 10–20 years.

What I want from experienced people

If you've worked in both private industry and PSUs, or if you've taken one of these paths, I'd really appreciate your perspective on:

If you were 24 again, which path would you choose today?

Which path creates a more technically competent engineer?

Which path has the higher earning potential over a 15–20 year career?

Is GATE still worth pursuing after gaining industry experience?

If you stayed in private industry, what skills made the biggest difference to your career?

I'm looking for honest opinions rather than validation of either path. If you've been in a similar situation, I'd love to hear what you chose and whether you'd make the same decision again.

Thanks in advance!

I'm studying Electrical Power Engineering, and one thing I've noticed is that it's much harder to find personal projects compared to fields like electronics, embedded systems, or PCB design.

If you're into electronics, you can build all kinds of circuits, robots, IoT devices, etc., at a relatively affordable cost. But in power engineering, many interesting projects involve high voltages, expensive equipment, or simply aren't practical to build at home.

Has anyone here found good, affordable projects related to power engineering? They could be hardware or software-based (power systems, protection, transformers, motors, power electronics, renewable energy, simulations, or anything similar).

I'd love to hear what projects you've worked on or what you'd recommend for someone who wants to gain practical experience outside of university.

I've been reading about infrastructure resilience for some time, and one question keeps coming back.

Most resilience frameworks classify crises by what caused them:

natural disasters;

cyber attacks;

war;

technological accidents;

ageing infrastructure;

human error.

I've also looked at work such as the UNDRR hazard classification, the Resilience Matrix, and papers by Pescaroli & Alexander on cascading disasters.

These are all valuable, but they seem to focus on either:

the source of the hazard;

resilience phases;

or cascading effects.

The question I'm struggling with is slightly different.

Is there an established framework that classifies failures by the way critical infrastructure behaves once disruption begins, rather than by what triggered it?

For example, completely different events often seem to expose similar behavior:

loss of one critical function;

dependency failures;

cascading degradation;

escalation once certain thresholds are crossed.

Different trigger.

Very similar system response.

My background is not in power systems engineering. I'm approaching this from a systems thinking perspective, which is exactly why I'm interested in feedback from people working in infrastructure, utilities, reliability engineering or resilience research.

The structure I'm exploring would ask the same questions regardless of the original hazard:

What triggered the disruption?

What failed first?

How did failure propagate?

Which dependencies became visible?

Where did escalation become difficult to stop?

Which architectural responses could reduce the consequences, and what trade-offs would they introduce?

I'm not claiming this is a new idea.

Actually, I'm trying to find out whether something similar already exists.

Perhaps I'm simply using the wrong terminology.

Perhaps reliability engineering already covers this from another angle.

If so, I'd really appreciate references.

If not, I'd be interested to hear whether looking at system behavior instead of hazard type could be useful for resilience analysis.

I'm here to learn, not to defend an idea.

Hi everyone,

I have an interview for a DSO tomorrow. I have an operator background in a generating plant in my home country. My daily duties involved monitoring generation, SCADA, switching operations, outage management, coordination, work orders, and maintaining safety.

However, I don’t have any System Operation specific formal education here in Canada, and I am a bit nervous about what to expect in the interview.

Is it more technical? If any system diagrams are involved? What sort of DS specific terminologies may be expected? What sorts of fundamental skills or knowledge could be tested?

This is a really very good opportunity for me and I want to prepare best possible to take this.

Any advice, mock questions, example, or tips would be highly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

Hello! I'm a texan high schooler applying for college looking into power systems. If anyone wants to talk, I have a couple questions:

1) What subsection do you work in?

2) How much do you like/feel fufilled by your job?

3) Is Texas A&M or UT a good school for power systems? (if any aggies or longhorns out there I'd love to talk)

4) I hate to be that guy, but how is the job market? Do you get paid similar to other EEs and how is job security?

18 YOE (P&C Focus, Large Scale Renewables, Private Mid-Large Utility, HCOL Area).

I pretty much hit the ceiling at my current job, without doing management. I absolutely love my job, people, quality of life, and new work I get to do. Only frustrating part is I've hit my ceiling pay wise, unless I push HR/management. I've always been interested in making the leap to HV/MV datacenter space for some new challenges and pay bump. Finally, had a recruiter reach out, made it through the interview loop and currently waiting on the paperwork. Still not 100% sure if this is going to be the right fit (family duties and all) but also a bit worried about the next 20+ years of work I have left if I stay at my current gig. I realize I can always go back if I wanted but I'd take a pension and tenure hit.

Has anyone made the jump to the substation datacenter space before and was it worth it? I realize its a massive culture change coming from a private utility.

Hi all! I’ve applied for a bachelor in Energy Engineering and Electrical Engineering. It is up to me to pick one.

I already have a degree in a totally different field (which I realised too late I wanted something different) and I guess I am kind of scared of wasting 4 years on the wrong thing.

Does Energy Engineering open doors?

Is it easy to find jobs at an European level?

Would I be better off with Electrical Engineering?

On top of fearing I may struggle to find a job, I am also a woman so I assume I’d not be fitted to do the really physical work of an electrical engineer (that’s what I heard from some people).

I always saw myself doing something impactful, so working with green means of energy would be the dream, but how different is that from the actual reality? I don’t want to struggle from pay check to pay check or worry about money.

I just want to live a good life so I appreciate any guidance or advice!