Interconnection Policy Director

tl;dr Manage Permit Power’s interconnection policy development and multi-state campaigns to dramatically accelerate the installation of home solar and batteries.

Permit Power is on a mission to make it cheap and easy for American families to power their lives by cutting the red tape that makes home solar and batteries so expensive.

We are a small but ambitious team that advances common-sense policy fixes in states around the country to modernize processes like permitting and utility interconnection to allow tens of millions more American families to produce their own affordable electricity.

If we’re successful at lowering the price of home solar and batteries for American families, almost 20m more families will be able to install almost 200GW of power on their roofs and save $1.2trn over the life of their systems.

Already, within less than two years, we have helped ensure almost 100m Americans have access to instant permitting for home solar and batteries. We are looking for an Interconnection Policy Director to lead our national agenda to modernize and streamline the process for connecting home solar and batteries to the electric grid. Reporting to the Chief of Policy, you’ll be responsible for driving legislative and regulatory change, leading coalition efforts, and serving as the organization’s expert on utility interconnection rules and challenges.

• Develop Permit Power's interconnection policy agenda: Formulate and execute a comprehensive policy plan to simplify and streamline the interconnection process for home solar and batteries. This agenda should transform the utility approval process so it is no longer slow, cumbersome, costly, and a detriment to solar deployment.
• Oversee the bill-to-law cycle: Conduct preliminary research for, draft, and vet interconnection bill language. Lobby legislators, their staff, and executive branch officials. Negotiate with the opposition. Produce advocacy materials, such as talking points, fact sheets, graphics, and reports.
• Build and drive coalitions: Manage relationships with partners such as environmental groups, the solar industry, think tanks, and others to broaden support for an interconnection reform agenda and to collaboratively refine and update our state policy priorities.
• Serve as the subject matter expert: Act as the organization's authority on utility interconnection rules and proceedings, cutting-edge policy opportunities like flexible interconnection, grid modernization challenges, and other related topics.
• Direct regulatory advocacy: Lead the organization’s formal participation in state public utility commission proceedings and other regulatory dockets. This includes filing expert testimony, drafting comments, and providing oral arguments to ensure our interconnection reform agenda is adopted by regulators.
• Manage external research and consultants: Scope external policy research and identify, onboard, and direct consultants to secure high-quality products supporting our interconnection policy agenda.

• 5+ years of experience in policy development, legislative advocacy, and/or regulatory affairs related to behind-the-meter solar/storage, utility-scale renewables, or electrification technologies required. Experience in utility interconnection policy preferred.
• Track record of successfully developing and executing policy agendas that lead to tangible outcomes, particularly within the state legislative or regulatory arenas.
• Ability to translate complex technical and engineering concepts into clear, accessible language and materials for policymakers, advocates, and the public.
• Experience testifying before, interfacing with, and developing materials for policymakers.
• Demonstrated ability to build coalitions and partner with stakeholders to achieve policy goals.
• Relationships with clean energy policy groups, technical consultants, research firms, and think tanks in the electric utility and distributed generation space.
• Expert-level knowledge of interconnection technologies and concepts related to distributed energy resources preferred (e.g. flexible interconnection, volt-var, demand-side…