California ISO

Position Title/Short Description

Full Text of JOE Listing:

Company Description

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is a nonprofit public-benefit corporation that manages the reliable flow of electricity across the high-voltage, long-distance power lines for 80 percent of California's power grid and part of Nevada. The Folsom-based CAISO safeguards the economy and well-being of more than 30 million Californians by operating the grid around the clock 365 days a year. Working diligently to meet the electricity needs of all Californians, the CAISO is at the forefront of integrating historic amounts of clean, renewable power to the electrical grid under California’s mandate to decarbonize all retail sales of electricity by 2045.

As the only independent system operator in the Western United States, the CAISO works impartially with a wide array of entities involved in generating and delivering power across California and the West to ensure the safe and reliable movement of electricity on the grid. With no financial interest in any segment of the system, the CAISO also ensures fair and transparent access to nearly 26,000 circuit miles on networked transmission lines and market transactions, making sure supply and demand are balanced and that there is enough power to meet customers’ needs.

The CAISO also operates day-ahead and real-time energy markets that select the most efficient mix and location of resources to meet electricity demand. To foster greater coordination in the Western U.S., the CAISO launched its Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) in 2014, providing real-time energy market services to more than two-thirds of the Western interconnected grid. Since its inception, the Western EIM has provided more than $1.4 billion in benefits to market participants and achieved a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Job Description

Under general direction of the Vice President of Market Policy and Performance (Vice President), the Chief Economist supports CAISO internal staff and represents the CAISO as an expert before stakeholders on market efficiency and market operation, design and development. The Chief Economist will make presentations to the CAISO Board of Governor, EIM Governing Body and stakeholders and contribute to regulatory filings. As a recognized industry leader and subject matter expert, communicates both technical and policy matters to CAISO implementation teams to ensure market application enhancements are consistent with intended policy and have been tested to minimize exposure to and unintended consequences of variances.

This position will have a direct role in:

- Providing technical and strategic expertise on continual development of market structure and design in support of corporate initiatives.
- Shaping wholesale electricity market design that meets challenges associated with the grid today and for the future.
- Serve as a subject matter expert to the executive leadership team and Board of Governors regarding California ISO markets and, potential changes, as well as staying abreast in the design of electricity markets globally to make recommendations on best practices.


What you will be doing:

- Acts as a technical expert to executive leadership team in the development of market structure and design proposals and policy positions, including areas of renewable integration, market participation by intermittent resources and incorporation of new technologies such as the Smart Grid.
- Serves as industry-wide recognized expert on market design rules and development of new products and services to enhance efficiency of wholesale electric markets in California and throughout the West.
- Leads the development of market testing and analysis processes that will be used to identify and expose potential market design flaws.
- Provides technical and policy input to program and project teams responsible for developing business requirements and technical specifications for implementing approved market design elements. The will include decision making on unresolved market design issues in consultation with other ISO experts, affected departments and stakeholder liaisons where appropriate.
- Evaluates the design and operations of other restructured electricity markets and the applicability to the CAISO markets.
- Represents the CAISO in regulatory, stakeholder and industry forums dealing with market design and performance.
- Develops and evaluate options for resolving identified market design issues with stakeholders and considering industry best practices through written papers, presentations, and leading discussions.
- Leads internal teams to develop CAISO market design proposals to obtain FERC approval.
- The Chief Economist will make presentations to the CAISO Board of Governor, EIM Governing Body, the CAISO Enterprise Board, and stakeholders and contribute to regulatory filings.

Qualifications

Level of Education and Discipline:

- A Master’s degree in Economics or related technical field.
- Ph.D. strongly desired

Amount of Experience:

- Equivalent years of education and training, plus fifteen (15) or more years related experience.

Type of Experience

- Industry- wide recognized technical expertise in the design of new products and market rules.
- Extensive knowledge of economic analysis, regulatory requirements, energy market design, qualitative analysis, and in particular Western electricity market trends and dynamics.
- A proven track record of conceptualizing, developing, and executing multiple research projects covering diverse issues including policy-oriented research and/or operational research.
- Also preferred is proficient knowledge of Real-time power-system applications, software tools and PC based applications.
- Advanced power system operations and principles, optimization techniques, California power transmission networks, or network modeling.


Additional skills and abilities:

- Demonstrated leadership in design of new market products and services for electricity markets.
- Must be able to work effectively in a team environment as team leader, facilitator, mentor and team member.
- Excellent analytical, written, and oral communication skills required.
- Must be able to exercise sound judgment.
- Must be able to interface effectively and distill advanced technical subjects with executive leadership team, internal clients and broad range of levels from Market external stakeholders.
- Must be able to handle a dynamic and changing work environment, and work well independently.