Energy Trader

Xcel Energy•Denver, CO

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Responsible for energy (electricity) purchases and sales from balance-of-the-day to 18 months in advance to maximize Xcel revenues and reduce system costs. Identifies and analyzes technical and fundamental factors affecting market prices, system costs, basis, and availability of power supply and transmission. Profitably trades a combination of ISO markets, OTC forwards & virtual/ congestion products to generate trading margins for Xcel Energy proprietary trading.

Requirements

BS or BA, preferably with emphasis in marketing, business or technical studies.
Minimum of two years of related experience.
Two years' profitable experience in trading in one or more of the ISO's, including physical and financial OTC instruments, options, and/or virtual/up-to-congestion/point-to-point products.
Additional requirements are dependent upon the energy market to which the Energy Trader is assigned.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing a utility or load-serving entity (LSE) position in bi-lateral and organized markets, including balancing system requirements, generation dispatch, and market purchases/sales.
Demonstrated experience executing day-ahead, real-time, and balance-of-month transactions to support physical system needs and optimize portfolio costs.
Working knowledge of ISO/RTO market structures (e.g., SPP, MISO, PJM, WECC), including market rules, settlement constructs, and operational requirements.
Ability to translate ISO tariff rules, market design changes, and operating procedures into actionable trading strategies and impacts to system operations.
Experience coordinating across Trading, Generation, Fuels, and Operations to align commercial activity with physical system constraints and reliability needs.
Strong attention to detail with a proven ability to manage trade capture, confirmations, and position accuracy in fast-moving market environments.
Experience managing physical and financial positions in a cost-optimization / hedging framework, rather than purely speculative trading.
Familiarity with congestion, basis, and locational pricing dynamics, particularly as they relate to serving load and managing a generation portfolio.
Demonstrated ability to operate in a risk-controlled environment, prioritizing system coverage, compliance, and cost minimization.
Exposure to proprietary trading strategies is a plus, but experience supporting core system coverage and portfolio management is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Profitably engages in the proprietary trading of physical and financial energy products within defined risk parameters, with a maximum transaction length of 18 months.
Develop and implement trading strategies that capture market inefficiencies due to pricing disparity, congestion, and binding constraints.
Develop and maintain business relationships with other market participants to gain market knowledge and increase trading profitability.
Monitor industry changes that could affect Xcel Energy's profitability.
Work closely with Origination to develop structured energy products for Xcel Energy customers.
Perform technical and fundamental analysis of futures and forward physical market prices to develop market views for Trading and Origination.
Provide pricing support for risk management and other trading staff using analytical skills.
Manage the natural electric position of Xcel Energy regulated operating companies using financial, physical, and structured trading products.
Operate in both electric and natural gas markets.
Execute trades with durations ranging from balance-of-the-day to 18 months in both physical and financial energy markets.
Leverage Xcel Energy regulated operating company assets to create profitable purchase and resale opportunities.