The Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent state agency that is responsible for regulating more than 1,100 Wisconsin public utilities, which provide electric, natural gas, combined water and sewer utilities, and certain aspects of local telephone service to households and businesses throughout the state! The PSC of Wisconsin ensures safe, reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible utility services and equitable access to telecommunications and broadband services. 

This position offers a hybridized work schedule. The position will be headquartered at and required to work from the Hill Farms office in Madison, WI at least 1 day per week. All employees working a hybrid work schedule are still expected to telework from within the State of Wisconsin. This topic will be discussed more at the time of the interview.

The PSC is a great place to work! In addition to meaningful and rewarding work, we offer a competitive benefits package featuring:

• Substantial leave time including at least 3.5 weeks of paid leave time to start, 9 paid holidays, and 130 hours of sick time that roll over each year.
• Excellent and affordable health, vision, and dental benefits (health plan options start at just $42/month for single plans and $104/month for family plans after two months of employment)
• A casual office atmosphere, flexible work schedules, and telework options depending on the position’s requirements. This position will be required to report to the office at a minimum of one day per week. 
• An exceptional pension plan with employer match and lifetime retirement payment, plus an optional tax advantaged 457 retirement savings plan
• Well Wisconsin Wellness Program
• A free and confidential employee assistance program that offers employees and their immediate family dependents a variety of tools, resources, and professional consultation services to support their health, goals, and overall well-being
• Use this Total Rewards Calculator to see the total value of our competitive benefits package!

In addition to our generous employee benefits, we strive for inclusivity and celebrate different religious holidays and cultural observances and provide flexibility for utilizing paid time off for such celebrations. 

Position Summary

The Electrical Utilities Engineer (Public Service Engineer) participates in the review and analysis of proposed electrical transmission, distribution, and generation projects that impact Wisconsin ratepayers. This includes renewable generation proposed by both independent developers and utilities operating within the state of Wisconsin. The position’s primary responsibility in these dockets will include performing a "Need Analysis" for such projects to determine whether these proposed projects are in the public interest and writing technical and process documents representing these findings. Evaluating need for the project involves analyzing data related to reliability, resource adequacy, project cost, efficiency, and safety using engineering models and spreadsheets as applicable.

 In addition, this position relies on the use of effective written communication and time/ work management skills, as successful work in this role requires coordination with internal and external stakeholders to meet statutory deadlines. The staff in this position works with environmental team to ensure compliance with Wisconsin Environmental Policy Act, internal legal staff to ensure compliance with the state’s statutes, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources staff, personnel from utilities and developers, members of the public and other intervenors as applicable.

The other key work responsibilities would include learning and applying Wisconsin State Electrical Code and Service Rules for Electrical Utilities to various safety and stray voltage investigations as well as reviewing related complaints and inquiries.

This position will be filled at the Entry, Senior, or Advanced level depending on qualifications. 

To review the full position description, please email Ben Harwell at BenjaminK.Harwell@wisconsin.gov

Minimum Requirement: By time of appointment start date, the candidate must have graduated with a bachelor or higher degree from an accredited college or university with a degree in a related engineering field, OR be a credentialed professional engineer (PE).

For a degree obtained outside of the United States, applicants must have already completed a foreign education credential evaluation through one of the two national associations of credential evaluation services and must submit copies of the evaluation with their resume.

1.  National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) is an association of 19 credential evaluation services with admission standards and an enforced code of good practice.
2.  Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE) is an association of 10 credential evaluation services with a board of advisors and an enforced code of ethics.

Credential evaluations are not free, and applicants are responsible for the cost of the selected service. These services may take weeks or months to complete. Candidates may direct questions related to the evaluations to the contact information provided on the NACES and AICE websites. Candidates should ask for evaluation services that minimally includes:

• Type of education received by the applicant;
• The level of education in relation to the U.S. education system and state that its comparability recommendations follow the general guidelines of the International Education Standards Council; and
• The status of the awarding foreign school’s recognition and legitimacy in its home country’s education system.

In addition to the minimum qualifications, a qualified candidate at the senior level will have:

• Experience in a professional setting writing and interpreting technical documents, such as engineering plans or whitepapers, engineering assessments, testimony, technical memorandums and orders
• Experience managing projects independently and/or as part of a team to achieve a goal.
• Experience in a professional setting writing and/or presenting technical documents to technical and non-technical audiences
• Experience and/or education in the utility industry, such as  bulk electrical system, regulatory bodies and principles, and/or regional transmission organizations

In addition to the minimum qualifications and senior level qualifications, a qualified candidate at the advanced level will have:

• Experience in the planning, permitting, engineering, and/or construction of transmission lines, substations, electrical power generation, distributed generation, and/or utility-scale renewable energy planning.
• Experience pertaining to the utility industry, including but not limited to regulatory principles and regional transmission organizations.
• Extensive experience utilizing modeling software associated with capacity expansion planning, power flow analysis, and/or economic dispatch.