South Dakota Transmission Planning Engineer (Open to South Dakota Service Territory and Butte, MT)

Northwestern Energy • Sioux Falls, SD

10d • $74,000 - $143,300 • Hybrid

About The Position

The South Dakota Transmission Planning Engineer is responsible for planning activities for Northwestern Energy's South Dakota transmission system and coordinating transmission planning-related activities within the Southwest Power Pool (SPP) footprint. This role supports compliance with NERC, FERC, and SPP requirements while performing & evaluating transmission expansion needs, generation interconnections, load growth, and long-term system reliability.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in engineering required.
• Electrical Engineering preferred.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Effective written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong advocacy and stakeholder abilities.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Communicate technical information effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience developing and performing transmission planning studies.
• All NorthWestern Energy employees are required to adhere to company safety standards and the Code of Business Conduct & Ethics.

Nice To Haves

• Preference for Electrical Engineering degree.
• Actively pursuing Professional Engineer (PE) licensure is preferred.
• Professional Engineer (PE) licensure is preferred.
• Professional Engineer (PE) licensure is strongly preferred and may be required for specific roles.
• Ability & desire to obtain a Professional Engineer's License is preferred.
• Knowledge of computer programming preferred (such as Python).
• Knowledge & experience with power system modeling software preferred (such as PSS/E).
• Experience working within the SPP footprint preferred.
• 3+ years of transmission planning experience preferred.
• Get Into Energy - Energy Industry Fundamental 2.0 certification is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Serve as Northwestern Energy's primary transmission planning representative for SPP planning processes.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, regional SPP zonal members, SPP committees, and other regulatory agencies to develop transmission solutions and advocacy for NorthWestern Energy that supports system reliability and strategic business objectives.
• Develop base cases and conduct transmission system studies using power flow and stability simulation software.
• Make recommendations to management on system improvements to mitigate identified problems.
• Maintain compliance with all related reliability standards including industry and regulatory.
• Lead participation in SPP transmission planning committees, stakeholder activities, and planning working groups.
• Coordinate planning studies and data requests between Northwestern Energy and SPP.
• Develop transmission expansion plans to address local and regional reliability and economic needs.
• Coordinate planning activities with SPP, neighboring regional zonal members and other transmission owners in SPP.
• Develop and maintain advanced transmission planning models, including node-breaker and EMT models where applicable.
• Participate in SPP Integrated Transmission Planning (ITP) processes, committees and meetings.
• Knowledge and application of SPP tariff provisions.
• Support and advocate transmission owner responses to SPP planning assessments.
• Travel to off-site meetings, trainings, etc. including overnight travel up to 15% of the time.
• Provide technical support to Operations, Asset Management, Engineering, and functional groups as requested.
• Assist with transmission facility rating coordination and documentation.
• Prepare technical reports and presentations for management, regulatory agencies and other stakeholders.
• The ability to maintain regular, reliable, and punctual attendance is an essential function of this position, consistent with applicable laws and reasonable accommodation requirements.
• Ensure all actions are consistent with NorthWestern Energy's values, mission, and strategic business objective.

Benefits

• 401K with company match up to 4% and non-elective contribution up to 7%
• Healthcare and wellbeing programs, including dental and vision for you, your spouse and dependents, Health Savings Account (HSA), healthcare and dependent care flexible spending account (FSA)
• Employee Assistance Programs (Offering up to six free counseling sessions, per person, per issue, per year for employees, spouses and dependents to include financial health)
• Life Insurance (Company pays basic employee policy; spouse, dependent insurance also available)
• Continuing education reimbursement
• Competitive pay (Scheduled performance-based wage increases and annual incentive opportunities.)
• Paid company endorsed volunteer opportunities
• Paid parental leave
• Paid bereavement leave
• Paid training opportunities
• Paid time off starting on your first day, plus 11 paid holidays

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level