I'd have to look into that.
I had one coworker go to be an officer for the NGA. He loves it. I would kill to get in on that, but he said they are on a hiring freeze right now.
General Apprentice System Operator Job Opportunity
- Thread starter rmenergy
- Start date
I had one coworker go to be an officer for the NGA. He loves it. I would kill to get in on that, but he said they are on a hiring freeze right now.
So the role of transmission operator is broken up into two roles at PG&E. TSO & Dispatcher. The TSO will write & process switching orders, remotely control equipment to adjust voltage, put in/take out equipment from service, etc. The apprenticeship is the entry to the TSO role.
Dispatchers have the “wide area view”. They run contingency analysis, process outage cards, interact with higher level authorities & can see how the TSO actions impact outside entities or how their actions impact PG&E.
This is rotating 12hr shift work. TSO is on an 8wk rotation while dispatchers are on a 6wk rotation.
They’re perpetually understaffed for several reasons. One is that utilities are not popular with younger generations so every year more retire & it’s difficult to backfill. It’s also a stressful position with a high workload & no real room for error. Think of it as akin to an air traffic controller but for the transmission system.
Divorce rates are due to the shift work, stress & overtime. When I was there, the low man on my crew had 1,000jrs of ot. That was too much for my family. I took a pay cut to go to an entity with better benefits & more time off but they’re not nearly as competent nor do they have the training programs in place like PG&E does.
What others do is get through the apprenticeship, do the 5yr mandatory GCC time then bid another job within PG&E. During that 5yr timeframe they work as much ot as possible to acquire real estate or other investments then bid another electrician or other position for a m-f 0700-1530 dayshift position that will pay in the 135-150/yr range but be setup with supplemental income. Others get addicted to the ot money & buy themselves outrageously expensive toys.
Hope that helps
Dominion has a control room in Cayce. If you’re a veteran, Power4vets has a training program that the Cayce office has hired from 😉
Don’t expect the same pay as CA though. My guess would be in the 120-150 range for a journeyman & top step around that area.
I'm not
I work in project management for a supplemental insurance company. I am not sure that helps lol
Download the EPRI Power-system Tutorial for free as a pdf online. That’ll give you 80% of your general base knowledge.
HSI/SOS has a training program for power system operators as well. They’re based, I believe, in NC & know that area well. I have the head trainers contact in my phone. If you can grasp the EPRI, shoot me a PM & I’ll get you in touch with him. I think their full prep course is around $2k. The nerc exam is around $700. If you get on somewhere they will usually pay for the testing but with no background, going through it yourself might be helpful.
I also know a headhunter out on the east coast that concentrates on system operators. If Bob (HSI trainer) doesn’t have any advice for your training & entry to a local entity, the headhunter will likely be helpful
Link to said tutorial
www.epri.com
EPRI Home
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) conducts research, development, and demonstration projects for the benefit of the public in the United States and internationally. As an independent, nonprofit organization for public interest energy and environmental research, we focus on electricity...