Substation Electrician

City of Palo Alto • Palo Alto, CA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The Department Palo Alto is the only city in California that offers a full array of utility services to its citizens and businesses. Because of this, the City has a unique opportunity to partner with the Palo Alto community to enjoy the benefits and achievements of reliable, home-grown, and environmentally focused utilities. Palo Alto has a tradition of over 125 years of successful public utility operations. It is a tradition that continues to provide the Palo Alto community with safe and reliable utilities service, local decision-making over policies, utility ratemaking, environmental programs, and customized services. Learn more about our Utilities Department. The Substation Electrician is a skilled, journey-level position that performs a variety of skilled and semi-skilled work in installation, maintenance and repair of a substation. Workers specialize in low, medium, and high-voltage substation work, including switching, equipment maintenance and calibration. Performs skilled work in electrical construction, maintenance, climb station structures, operate aerial lift, hot washing, oil filtering and troubleshooting of electric utility facilities such as electric transmission, distribution, communication and SCADA systems.

Requirements

• Skilled in general fundamentals of electrical theory, control relaying, protection relaying, control and power switching schemes.
• Knowledge of tools and systems used in the trade and committed to safe work practices.
• Ability to communicate with others, make sound decisions, and to assimilate and understand information in a manner consistent with the essential job functions and maintain cooperative working relationships with other employees and the public is essential.
• Equivalent to the completion of the twelfth grade
• Completion of an accredited apprentice program
• Experience with solid state circuitry and computer-based test equipment, control, monitoring and analysis system and associated tools required
• May be required to work on standby and/or pre-arranged or emergency situations
• Possession of a valid California Driver’s License

Responsibilities

• Install, test, calibrate, troubleshoot and repair simple and complex protective relays, regulator control and operating devices, power transformer protective and safety devices and maintain appropriate records for calibration, testing and maintenance.
• Install, test, maintain and repair 115KV, 60kV, 12kV and 4kV power circuit breakers; perform periodic trip testing.
• Maintain, test and repair, 115/60, 60/12, 60/4-kv power transformers and load tap changers.
• Sample, test and evaluate insulating oil and other media and maintain appropriate records including DGA and dielectric test.
• Troubleshoot, repair, maintain and calibrate computer-based SCADA system, transducers, input devices, communication equipment and data transmission equipment.
• Perform substation high-voltage switching operations.
• Test, calibrate, maintain and repair distribution system line equipment such as transformers, capacitors, regulators, reclosers and associated control equipment.
• Test prior to energizing and perform fault locating of high-voltage underground cable systems
• Assists with the design, programing, installation, maintenance of PLC and SCADA functions.
• Installs, maintains and repairs electric control/protection systems both AC and DC, PLC's, Motor Control Center.
• Perform infrared scanning of substations transmission/distribution equipment

Benefits

• Option of a 9/80 work schedule with every other Friday off
• Tuition reimbursement
• Leadership training
• Career growth opportunities
• Potential enrollment for dependents in the Palo Alto Unified School District (pilot program, subject to change)
• $10,000 in childcare subsidies (pilot program, subject to change)
• Incentives for walking, biking and taking transit to work.
• Clipper Bay Pass program (Employee Cost: $5 per month).
• Defined-Benefit Retirement Plan: with competitive pension benefits

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: High school or GED