About the position
Calpine Corporation is seeking an intern for its Transmission Analytics team in Houston, Texas. As America's largest generator of electricity from natural gas and geothermal resources, Calpine operates a fleet of 77 power plants with over 27,000 megawatts of generation capacity. The company is committed to environmental stewardship and utilizes advanced technologies to generate power in a low-carbon manner. The internship will involve supporting the analysis of business decisions and strategic issues related to electricity and natural gas markets, transmission analysis, load forecasting, plant operations, and dispatch, as well as asset and contract commodity margins. Interns will engage in electrical load flow studies associated with Calpine's use of the electric transmission system. They will work on data integrity, automation, statistical inference, machine learning, and data mining to efficiently interpret information in the transmission grid and its impact on the business. The role includes developing and validating power grid network models, utilizing Calpine's proprietary production cost model, and conducting transmission system studies and market simulations. Interns will also support hedging and trading activities through CRRs/FTRs and other market transactions to optimize Calpine's portfolio, and will be responsible for preparing regular short-term to mid-term market reports and forecasts. This internship provides an excellent opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience in the energy sector, particularly in the areas of transmission analytics and market modeling. Interns will be expected to work autonomously while managing multiple deadlines and will have the chance to collaborate with a team of professionals dedicated to innovative solutions in the power generation industry.
Responsibilities
- Support analysis of business decisions and strategic issues related to electricity and natural gas markets.
- Conduct electrical load flow studies associated with Calpine's use of the electric transmission system.
- Ensure data integrity and automation, applying statistical inference, machine learning, and data mining techniques.
- Develop and validate power grid network models.
- Utilize Calpine's proprietary production cost model and LMP market modeling and analytics platform.
- Perform transmission system studies and market simulations to identify capabilities and limitations of the transmission system.
- Support hedging and trading activities through CRRs/FTRs and other market transactions.
- Prepare regular short-term to mid-term market reports and forecasts.
- Assist with other duties as assigned.
Requirements
- Currently pursuing a Bachelor's or advanced degree in a quantitative or analytical field such as electrical engineering, computer science, mathematics, statistics, business, economics, or physics.
- At least three years of undergraduate coursework completed by the start of the internship; graduate students are encouraged to apply.
- Experience in electrical engineering with power flow analysis and IT programming skills is highly desired.
- Minimum GPA of 3.2.
- Legally eligible to work in the United States now and in the future.
- Demonstrated aptitude in analytical tools such as Microsoft Excel, R, VBA, Python, PSSe, PowerWorld, UPLAN/PROMOD, SQL Server database, or similar programming environments.
- Hands-on experience in Security-constrained unit commitment and Security-constrained economic dispatch.
- Ability to work autonomously and under pressure of multiple deadlines.
- Strong understanding of Microsoft Office products (VBA, Excel, PowerPoint, and Word).
- Knowledge of the energy industry, specifically ISOs, the independent power or utility sector, is a plus.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- Team player with enthusiasm for problem-solving and learning new methods and tools.
- Good problem-solving and analytical abilities.
- Excellent organization skills and attention to detail.
Nice-to-haves
- Knowledge of the energy industry, specifically ISOs, the independent power or utility sector.
