Meteorologist

Formulates and communicates weather forecasts to support Xcel Energy's Commercial Operations and energy trading activities. Job Posting # JR101545

 

Date posted

Oct. 27, 2023 1:15 pm

Application deadline

Nov. 27, 2023 5:00 pm

Organization

Excel Energy

Location

  • United States

Job description

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. 

Position Summary

Formulates and communicates weather forecasts to support Xcel Energy's Commercial Operations and energy trading activities. Generates nationwide daily/weekly weather forecasts, as well as electric load and renewable energy production forecasts for system planning and trading purposes. Effectively communicates high impact weather events that may affect the reliability of the bulk electric and gas systems and/or may move gas or power markets. Supports and assists with Senior Meteorologist functions when needed.

Essential Responsibilities

  • Gather and interpret various meteorological data to formulate short and medium-range nationwide forecasts by 6:00 AM. Forecast load and renewable energy production required for submittal to RTO/ISO Energy Markets and for grid reliability planning. Provide meteorological insight and forecasting support to Power Operations and Energy Trading. Identify and alert Power Operations to meteorological events capable of jeopardizing system reliability.
  • Communicate significant weather events that may have an impact on traded gas and power markets. When assigned, provide mid-day model run updates and associated commentary for trade desk, including model change assessment for the next trading days. When assigned, provide commentary on long range weather models and weather updates on weekends.
  • Serve as a weather data source for Commercial Operations, utilizing a weather database and other data extraction techniques. Maintain and enhance existing forecast tools and scripts utilizing programming knowledge. Evaluate potential inefficiencies in current procedures and seek programmatic improvements.
  • Support Wholesale Commodity Trading activity by effectively communicating forecasts. Develop a proprietary view of long range weather for North America. Evaluate various vendor Forecasts. Provide forecast recommendations to support weather hedging activities.
  • During inclement weather events, coordinate with the Senior Meteorologist(s) to provide briefing support via multiple channels for Power Operations, Electric Transmission, Electric Distribution, Gas Transmission, and Gas Distribution. Provide fire weather outlooks and extreme weather alerts enterprise-wide to improve operational awareness of rapidly-changing weather conditions.
  • During inclement weather events, coordinate with the Senior Meteorologist(s) to provide briefing support via multiple channels for Power Operations, Electric Transmission, Electric Distribution, Gas Transmission, and Gas Distribution. Provide fire weather outlooks and extreme weather alerts enterprise-wide to improve operational awareness of rapidly-changing weather conditions.

Minimum Requirements

  • BS in Meteorology. MS preferred.
  • Familiarity with numerical weather prediction models and aptitude for working with the statistical analysis of data and gridded atmospheric data sets required.
  • Strong Excel and communication skills are required.
  • Experience with one or more of the following programming languages such as VBA, Python, R, SQL, etc. is preferred.
  • Familiarity with weather-related file formats such as grib, shp, netCDF, JSON, etc. is desired.
  • Minimum of 2 years experience forecasting weather required. 

As a leading combination electricity and natural gas energy company, Xcel Energy offers a comprehensive portfolio of energy-related products and services to 3.4 million electricity and 1.9 million natural gas customers across eight Western and Midwestern states. At Xcel Energy, we strive to be the preferred and trusted provider of the energy our customers need. If you’re ready to be a part of something big, we invite you to join our team.

PSU students/graduates may use Andrew Markowitz as a point of contact andrewmarkowitzpsu@gmail.com

For more details

https://jobs.xcelenergy.com/meteorologist/job/26992912