Are you looking for an exciting job where you can put your skills and talents to work at a company you can feel proud to be a part of? Do you want a workplace that will challenge you and offer you opportunities to learn and grow? A position at Xcel Energy could be just what you’re looking for.

The below job summary and responsibilities reflects the duties of the Market Operations Analyst or Senior levels will differ as more skills and/or experience will be required. The successful candidate will be placed at a level that is commensurate with the candidate's skills and experience.

Position Summary

Be a part of a dynamic data-driven team solving today’s biggest grid challenges. Evaluate if ever-changing current and future resources are, in total, adequate for system operations. Support justification of power purchases to support resource adequacy. Provide insights into wholesale market participation, its costs and benefits, through data-driven analytics. Collaborate with other experts to identify, quantify, and ultimately mitigate renewable energy-induced transmission congestion. Build tools supporting how energy-limited resources ought to be dispatched under uncertainty. Identify and remove barriers to meeting 2030 carbon reduction goals. Production cost modeling will be essential in this role, ideally with experience in the PLEXOS nodal modeling system.

Design and perform quantitative analysis to evaluate the impact of changes in the resource portfolio. Propose plans to optimize seasonal, monthly, balance-of-month, and daily resource commitment schedules and portfolio positions to provide the most economic operations of the power system portfolios. Perform post-analysis of actual dispatch and system operations for each of the Xcel Energy power system portfolios to determine opportunities for efficiency improvements. Advise management on modeling results, portfolio options, regulatory impacts, and opportunities. Adhere to business rules and understand the regulatory environment.

Essential Responsibilities

• Design and perform quantitative studies to identify opportunities to increase optimization of existing resources. Support operations, planning, and risk management activities through evaluation of system capacity/energy requirements, future needs, and resource capabilities. Troubleshoot the daily operation of XE's regulated electric operating companies and provide technical support to improve daily system operations. Assist Fuels in the determination of forward fuel requirements and the daily gas nomination process.

• Identify opportunities to improve system operations and reduce customer costs. Design and create analytical studies to model opportunities and determine costs/savings (rescheduling plant maintenance, alternative operating strategies for certain resources, etc.). Help plant operations personnel understand the market implications of plant operating decisions. Understand mechanical aspects of power plants and the potential optionality in the various power generation technologies. Understand electrical system constraints and operations.

• Create and run modeling scenarios to evaluate efficiency of daily unit commitment, benefits of purchases and sales, and utilization of energy limited resources. Interpret results of modeling assignments and advise management. Verify accuracy of results through extensive post-analysis of XE system performance. Review and verify short-term load forecasts, current plant/contract availability, fuel costs, and market conditions in analysis.

• Design and perform post-analysis models of previous day system operation to determine opportunities for increasing dispatch efficiency and customer cost reductions. Perform benchmarking of models as appropriate to assure analysis integrity and advise team of issues. Verify accuracy of sales costing.

• Continuously seek improvements to processes and analyses used to optimize resources and improve performance of generation assets.

• Stay abreast of regulatory requirements. Identify opportunities to implement automated solutions for data transfers and improved data integrity. Identify operating inefficiencies and recommend solutions based on technical market analysis. Research energy market trends and energy optimization techniques/tools.

Analyst Minimum Requirements ($92,300 - $130,567)

• Bachelor's degree in mathematics, engineering, applied sciences, or related fields.

• Minimum 4 years experience in operating mathematical models, datamining, and analytics.

Analyst Preferred Requirements

• Previous work experience in electricity industry, including one year in energy commodity trading operations and knowledge of power plant operations.

• Preference given to those with at least 1 year experience with generation cost modeling software such as Plexos, Aurora, Prosym, Promod, or Gentrader.

Senior Analyst Minimum Requirements ($105,600 - $150,000)

• Bachelor's degree in mathematics, engineering, applied sciences, or related field.

• Minimum 8 years experience in operating mathematical models, data mining, and analytics.

• At least 2 years of experience with energy trading operations.

Senior Analyst Preferred Requirements

• Master's degree

• Previous work experience in electricity industry, including two years in LMP markets and knowledge of power plant operations.

• Experience with generation cost modeling tools such as Plexos, Aurora, Prosym, GenTrader, or Promod.

As a leading combination electricity and natural gas energy company, Xcel Energy offers a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services to 3.4 million electricity and 1.9 million natural gas customers across eight Western and Midwestern states. At Xcel Energy, we strive to be the preferred and trusted provider of the energy our customers need. If you’re ready to be a part of something big, we invite you to join our team.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.

Individuals with a disability who need an accommodation to apply please contact us at recruiting@xcelenergy.com .

Non-Bargaining

The anticipated starting base pay for this position is: $92,300.00 to $130,567.00 per year

This position is eligible for the following benefits: Annual Incentive Program, Medical/Pharmacy Plan, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Dependent Care Reimbursement Account, Health Care Reimbursement Account, Health Savings Account (HSA) (if enrolled in eligible health plan), Limited-Purpose FSA (if enrolled in eligible health plan and HSA), Transportation Reimbursement Account, Short-term disability (STD), Long-term disability (LTD), Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Fitness Center Reimbursement (if enrolled in eligible health plan), Tuition reimbursement, Transit programs, Employee recognition program, Pension, 401(k) plan, Paid time off (PTO), Holidays, Volunteer Paid Time Off (VPTO), Parental Leave

Benefit plans are subject to change and Xcel Energy has the right to end, suspend, or amend any of its plans, at any time, in whole or in part.

Deadline to Apply: 10/21/24

EEO is the Law | EEO is the Law Supplement | Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination | Equal Opportunity Policy (PDF) | Employee Rights (PDF)

ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT

Xcel Energy endeavors to make https://www.xcelenergy.com/ accessible to any and all users. If you would like to contact us regarding the accessibility of our website or need assistance completing the application process, please contact Xcel Energy Talent Acquisition at recruiting@xcelenergy.com. This contact information is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.