Senior Resource Planner / Resource Planner (Legislative and Regulatory)

Job Description:

Senior Resource Planner / Resource Planner (Legislative and Regulatory)

Description

Description:

The Department
The City of Palo Alto has provided a full range of utility services including electric, gas, water, and sewer for over 100 years and is one of the few publicly owned gas utilities in California. City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) is a leader in sustainability, with 100% carbon-neutral electric and gas portfolios and an award-winning solar program. CPAU is committed to addressing long-term business planning challenges, focusing on sustainability, safety, reliability, and maintaining reasonable rates for the community.

The Resource Management Division (RMD) of CPAU plays a key role in addressing the challenges facing CPAU. The Division manages an annual budget of approximately $120 million for electricity, gas, and water supply purchases, as well as customer efficiency and sustainability programs. The Division includes the Utility Program Services group, which operates programs to help customers use energy more efficiently and reduce their carbon footprint, and the Resource Planning group. This position is in the Resource Planning group, which consists of analysts responsible for managing CPAU's electricity, natural gas, and water supply and delivery portfolios, developing customer retail rates, utility financial planning, and collaborating with the Utility Program Services group to develop and implement innovative customer programs.

The Position
CPAU is seeking a Senior Resource Planner or Resource Planner to join the Resource Planning group. This position focuses on the legislative and regulatory aspects of utilities, with an emphasis on analyzing and responding to regulatory changes that impact the processes, laws, and rules governing utility operations . The role offers program management opportunities related to upcoming projects that reflect shifts in utility direction and policy. Applications will be considered for both levels, and the work assigned will depend on the skills and interests of the successful candidate.

Candidates at the Senior Resource Planne r level may be responsible for managing junior staff and are expected to independently oversee one or more functions within Resource Planning. These functions may include high-value/complex supply contracts, energy portfolio strategy, customer program portfolio strategy, or utility rate design and financial management. Resource Planners , as expert individual contributors, are responsible for sophisticated analysis in support of Resource Planning functions. Under minimal supervision, Resource Planners perform various tasks related to supply resource acquisition, financial forecasting, and customer program development for the City's electric, gas, and water utilities.

Each staff member in the Resource Management Division has the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, based on both organizational needs and their individual skills and interests. Initial projects for the person hired into this position will depend on their background but may include:

• Natural gas portfolio planning, operations, and related regulatory advocacy.
• Analytical support for the Electric Integrated Resources Plan implementation and other electric supply analyses.
• Electric supply contract management, including negotiations with counterparties.
• Rate design, sales analysis, and financial forecasting support.
• Coordination with Utilities Engineering to integrate electric vehicles, solar, and similar technologies into the electric distribution system.
• Analytical support for transportation and building electrification efforts.
• Analysis to support customer program development and implementation.
• Industry research and outreach to external agencies in support of these activities, along with participation in additional projects and planning efforts as needed.

Ideal Candidate
CPAU is seeking a candidate with strong analytical and program management skills, along with a comprehensive understanding of relevant laws and regulations. The ideal candidate will have experience in research, policy development, and navigating complex political landscapes. They should be able to analyze complex regulations, communicate effectively across multiple levels, and contribute to the development of policies that align with CPAU’s strategic goals. Additionally, the candidate must possess excellent communication skills and the ability to engage stakeholders effectively. Preferred experience includes:

• Electric supply resource planning, operations, and contract management.
• Natural gas supply resource planning and operations.
• Distribution system integration of electric vehicles, solar, and similar technologies, ideally with an electrical engineering background.
• Rate design and development, utility financial forecasting, load forecasting, and financial analysis.
• Customer program development and implementation, particularly related to distributed energy resources such as photovoltaics, electric vehicles, energy storage, microgrids, and building decarbonization technologies.

The position will be filled at the appropriate level and salary based on the applicant's qualifications of either:

• Senior Resource Planner: $82.64 - $110.18/hour ( $171,891.20 - $229,174.40 Annually)
• Resource Planner: $66.28 - $81.38/hour ( $137,862.40 - $169,270.40 Annually)

Benefits: Fantastic benefits package! To learn more, click HERE .

Compensation (UMPAPA): Comprehensive compensation plan. To learn more, click HERE .

Schedule: Hybrid, 9/80 work schedule (with every other Friday off).

*More than one position may be filled with this posting*

Essential Duties:

Essential and other important responsibilities and duties may include, but are not limited to, the following for the Senior Resource Planner level:

• Management of utility supply resource portfolios by performing resource planning, acquisitions, management, and contract administration activities, including structuring and origination of energy products and deal
• Manages rate and cost of service studies; formulates recommendations for customer retention and competitiveness through rates and other utility activities.
• Facilitates strategic planning processes (such as strategic planning for efficiency, EVs, building electrification, and other demand-side programs) through data acquisition, analysis, decision process facilitation, report preparation, and critical activity analysis and tracking.
• Represents the department and/or the City to the public, to other agencies, and to regional and sub-regional committees, including conducting public meetings, making presentations, and responding to requests for information.
• May supervise technical, clerical, and lead staff to include: prioritizing and assigning work; conducting performance evaluations; ensuring staff is trained; and making hiring, termination and disciplinary recommendations.

To view the full job description for the Senior Resource Planner, click HERE .

Essential and other important responsibilities and duties may include, but are not limited to, the following for the Resource Planner level:

• Evaluates the Utilities' supply and demand-side resource portfolio and recommends adjustments to match the City's (and/or customer's) risk and return preferences. Assists in the negotiation and writing of contracts for the purchase and/or sales of electric, gas or water resources with suppliers or buyers as appropriate.
• Evaluates the cost and benefits of demand-side resources including efficiency measures, demand response programs, electric vehicle programs, and customer-sited generation and storage.
• Assists in maintaining liaison with regional resource planning or supply agencies; serves on agency committees as required; evaluates proposals by other agencies in terms of resource costs, availability and consistency with long-term City financial projections and resource needs and recommends appropriate courses of action.
• Assists in rate and cost of service studies as required and formulates recommendations for utilities rates.
• When assigned to distribution system integration of distributed energy resources, assist with distribution system planning and coordinates with Utilities Electric Engineering to integrate distributed energy resources into the electric distribution system.

To view the full job description for the Resource Planner, click HERE .

Minimum Qualifications:

Sufficient education, training and/or work experience to demonstrate possession of the following knowledge and skills, which would typically be acquired through:

Senior Resource Planner

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Economics, Business Administration, or a related field and seven years of progressively responsible related experience; or, an equivalent combination of education and experience sufficient to successfully perform the essential duties of the job such as those listed above. Master's degree preferred.

• Licensing Requirements: Valid California Driver's License.

Resource Planner

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Economics, Mathematics or other related field (Electrical Engineering preferred); or Bachelor's Degree in Electrical (Power) Engineering or equivalent power engineering knowledge acquired through other means when assigned to distribution system integration of distributed energy resources and six years of increasingly responsible experience in utilities resource planning, acquisition and portfolio management. (Engineering degree may substitute for two years of experience).

Note: Master's degree in Engineering or other related field and/or registration as a Professional Engineer may be considered in lieu of one year's experience.

• Special Requirements: Valid California driver's license.

Supplemental Information:

The Selection Process:

• Applicants will receive recruitment status notifications via email (governmentjobs.com account also has notification status updates).
• Applicants will be screened throughout the posting process and highly qualified candidates may be invited to interview at any time.
• The screening process for this position typically may include a virtual recorded interview and/or panel interviews preceding final interviews with the hiring manager or their designee.

Recruitment Timeline:

• Minimum Qualifications Review: Ongoing
• Panel Interviews: Week of February 3, 2025
• Department Level Interviews: To be determined

Please note: The following dates are tentative and may change based on the needs of the hiring department.

Our online application system is provided by NeoGov. If you have problems while applying online, please contact NeoGov's Live Applicant Support at (855) 524-5627 between 6:00 AM and 5:00 PM Pacific Time, Monday - Friday.

The City of Palo Alto is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City will provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.

For more details visit our Careers Page, by clicking HERE.
Learn more about our Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs) between the City and its bargaining units, by clicking HERE.

Closing Date/Time: 1/27/2025 11:59 PM Pacific

Salary:

$171,891.20 - $229,174.40 Annually