Transmission Planning Engineer, or , or Senior Engineer

Denver, Colorado, 80205, United States of America

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a leading energy provider and Fortune 500 company, dedicated to serving millions of electricity and natural gas customers across eight states:
Minnesota, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico and Texas. We make energy work better for our customers, helping them thrive every day. That means always raising the bar - delivering better service and providing more reliable, resilient, and sustainable energy.

Xcel Energy is a place where you'll have opportunities to grow, expand your skills, and help lead the clean energy transition. We offer meaningful rewards, recognition, and support to help you build your career and make an impact - both on the job and beyond. Most importantly, it means you'll be joining a company that knows employees are the driving force behind its success and is committed to helping you be your best.

Xcel Energy supports a hybrid work model to enable collaboration and flexibility. Many roles are expected to work onsite three days per week (Tuesday-Thursday); however, work location expectations vary based on role, team, and business needs.

This position can be hired at the Entry, Staff, or Senior level, depending on the candidates' overall experience, qualifications, and interview. This position will be based in Denver, Colorado on a hybrid (3 days per week in the office) work schedule.

Key Job Performance Criteria (will differ based upon job level)

Perform Comprehensive Power System Planning Studies, including:

• Steady-State Load Flow Analysis under normal and contingency conditions (N-1, N-1-1, and extreme events) to identify system limitations and develop mitigation strategies.
• Short-Circuit and Protection Coordination Studies to ensure appropriate equipment ratings, relay coordination, and breaker duty compliance, including assessments for system modifications and new interconnections.
• Dynamic Performance Assessments, including Transient Stability and Small-Signal Stability Studies to evaluate rotor angle stability, voltage recovery, and oscillatory damping performance under a wide range of system disturbances.
• Electromagnetic Transient (EMT) Analysis for evaluating control interactions and fast dynamic phenomena associated with large power electronic loads (e.g., data centers), inverter-based resources (IBRs), and FACTS devices, leveraging PSCAD/EMTDC.
• Geomagnetic Induced Current (GIC) Studies aligned with NERC TPL-007 standards to assess geomagnetic disturbance impacts on transformers and bulk electric system reliability.

• Perform NERC TPL-001-5.1 compliance assessments, including extreme event analyses such as CIP-014 physical security risk assessments, wide-area event simulations, and black start restoration studies.
• Support dynamic model validation efforts per WECC and NERC MOD standards, ensuring fidelity of generator, inverter, and composite load models for stability studies.

• Assess grid-forming/grid-following inverter technologies and their impact on system strength, transient behavior, and control interactions.
• Apply IEEE 2800 requirements for I  performance, including ride-through, reactive power support, and fast frequency response capabilities.
• Address challenges of high renewable penetration and develop mitigation strategies to maintain bulk power system reliability.

• Coordinate with West Connect Planning Management Committee, WECC Reliability Subcommittees, and interconnection working groups to support transmission expansion planning, regional policy compliance, and reliability initiatives.
• Engage in regional and subregional transmission planning processes, contributing to multi-utility studies and cross-border resource integration scenarios.

• Execute System Impact Studies (SIS) and Facility Studies consistent with FERC Order 2023 and regional tariffs.
• Evaluate interconnection requests for conventional generation, IBRs, storage, hybrid resources, and emerging technologies such as microgrids and aggregated DERs under FERC 2222 frameworks.
• Recommend necessary transmission reinforcements, upgrades, or operational solutions to accommodate new resources and loads.

• Analyze and model Dynamic Line Rating (DLR), Advanced…