Principal Electrical Engineer; Transmission and Distribution Planning

THE COMMUNITY & CITY OF PALO ALTO

Known as the “Birthplace of Silicon Valley,” Palo Alto is home to 68,000 residents across nearly 26 square miles of land and water. Located between San Francisco and San Jose, it is a global hub for technology, medicine, and green innovation. With more than half of adults holding graduate degrees, Palo Alto is recognized as one of the most educated and engaged communities, offering excellent schools, premium shopping, dining, healthcare, recreation, and a strong sense of environmental stewardship.

With a FY 2027 budget of $1.05 billion and 1,088 full-time staff, the City of Palo Alto provides a full range of services, including police, fire, ambulance, utilities, libraries, parks, community centers, a golf course, airport, zoo, and open space preserves with 41 miles of trails. Palo Alto is a national leader in sustainability, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 1990 levels and reach carbon neutrality by 2030.

To reach the 80% goal by 2030, the City’s electric system will need to be reconstructed to increase capacity and provide higher system reliability.

With over 125 years of public utility operations, the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) provides electricity, water, wastewater, natural gas, and fiber optics services to the residents and businesses of the city. Nationally recognized for innovation, reliability, safety, sustainability, and workforce development, CPAU delivers safe, reliable services with local decision‑making, environmental programs, and customized solutions. The Utility Department emphasizes safety, regulatory compliance, customer service, infrastructure reliability, and cost control, while supporting the City’s sustainability goals through renewable energy, carbon offsets, and programs that help customers reduce their carbon footprint and use resources efficiently.

All the above utilities have dedicated enterprise funding to operate, maintain, and improve this infrastructure.

The Electric Division provides 100% carbon neutral power, a standard in Palo Alto since 2013. The Division keeps rates competitive—generally lower than private Bay Area utilities—and offers programs, workshops, and services to help residents and businesses use energy efficiently, lower consumption, and keep bills affordable. Major initiatives for the City’s Electric Division are to expand system capacity to meet near‑term building and transportation electrification loads.

With facilities aging as far back as the 1950’s, there is a significant number of capital improvement projects that need designed and constructed over the next five years.

• 26,428 residential meters
• 3,566 commercial meters
• 938 GWh of energy purchased annually
• 185 MW peak load
• 9 Substations
• 19 miles of 60kV sub‑transmission lines
• 317 miles of distribution lines

The ideal candidate is a licensed Electrical Professional Engineer (PE) in the State of California with significant experience in the design and operation of transmission and distribution systems, ability to lead electric utility capital improvement programs, and a talent for mentoring engineering staff. Candidates should possess strong expertise in power systems, utility infrastructure design, construction management, budgeting, and long‑range system planning.

Successful candidates communicate effectively with technical and non‑technical stakeholders, collaborate across departments and agencies, and apply sound engineering judgment to support reliable, safe, and resilient utility operations.

This position is responsible for long‑term electric system planning, load forecasting, standards development, and analysis of transmission and distribution capacity and reliability needs. Incumbents serve as the City’s technical expert for distribution and sub‑transmission planning, distributed energy resource (DER) integration, reliability analysis, and capital investment strategy. Work is performed with significant independence and requires expert‑level engineering judgment that directly affects the…