Transmission Planning and Advanced Studies Engineer; Entry Senior or Principal

Position: Transmission Planning and Advanced Studies Engineer (Entry, Staff, Senior or Principal)

• Denver, Colorado, 80205, United States of America
• Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55401

Are you looking for an exciting job where you can put your skills and talents to work at a company you can feel proud to be a part of? Do you want a workplace that will challenge you and offer you opportunities to learn and grow? A position at Xcel Energy could be just what you're looking for.

This position is part of the Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) Transmission Planning Team, a highly respected and technically advanced group responsible for shaping the future of the electric grid across Colorado and the broader Western Interconnection. The team is engaged in some of the industry's most challenging and high-impact transmission planning initiatives, working at the intersection of reliability, system development, policy, and innovation.

As a member of this team, you will have the opportunity to work on a diverse portfolio of projects that span traditional transmission expansion, advanced grid technologies, large-load integration, renewable energy integration, and next-generation power system planning. Current initiatives include DOE-funded and DOE-supported grid modernization efforts, advanced transmission technology deployments, inter-regional transmission development, HVDC modernization studies, Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs), Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS), and system-wide transmission expansion planning.

The team is actively evaluating innovative solutions that will help shape the future of the North American electric grid and sits in drafting and advisory roles in multiple NERC and WECC committees. The PSCo Transmission Planning Team is widely recognized for its strength in power system dynamics, transient stability analysis, and electromagnetic transient (EMT) studies. Engineers on the team work with industry-leading tools and methodologies to evaluate complex interactions between inverter-based resources, large loads, transmission technologies, and emerging grid architectures.

The team also participates in industry forums, technical working groups, and the development of industry guidance related to emerging reliability challenges.

Beyond technical studies, the role provides unique exposure to the broader utility business. Engineers frequently collaborate with operations, regulatory, resource planning, market, protection, and engineering organizations. Depending on experience and interests, candidates may also have opportunities to support regulatory filings, provide technical analyses for state and federal proceedings, develop testimony, and engage directly with stakeholders, consultants, regulators, and industry organizations.

This is an exceptional opportunity for professionals who want to solve technically complex problems, contribute to industry-leading work, gain visibility across the utility sector, and help define how the grid evolves to meet future reliability, decarbonization, electrification, and large-load growth challenges. The work performed by this team is helping establish practices and frameworks that are influencing transmission planning discussions well beyond Colorado.

This is more than a traditional transmission planning role. It is an opportunity to help design and influence the future electric grid while working alongside some of the industry's most experienced and innovative and expert engineers.

The job summary below and responsibilities reflect the entry engineer level role . The successfully chosen candidate will be placed at a level that is commensurate with their skills and experience as different skills and/or experience will be required at the staff, senior and principal engineer levels.

Position Summary:

Viewed as the technical engineer or subject matter expert for the organization in the application of advanced theories, concepts, principles, and processes in power systems modeling and analysis and/or transmission planning. Contributes to the development of new principles and concepts. Problems must be approached through a series of complex and conceptually related studies, are difficult to define, require unconventional or innovative approaches, and…