Full-Time

Senior Planning Engineer

Posted on 5/9/2026

Ercot

Ercot

501-1,000 employees

Compensation Overview

$99.1k - $168.4k/yr

Pflugerville, TX, USA

Hybrid

Hybrid role with on-site 2-3 days per week in Taylor, TX; remote work allowed from Texas residence.

Category
Electrical Engineering (1)
Requirements
  • Minimum 5 years’ experience as a power system engineer or similar type role in excess of degree requirements
  • Bachelor's Degree: Electrical Engineering or related field (Required) or a combination of education and experience that provides equivalent knowledge to a major in such fields is required
  • Experience within the electric utility industry preferred (both levels)
  • PE Professional Engineer certification is Preferred
Responsibilities
  • Understands the basic principles, theories and concepts related to the profession and learns how to apply them within the ERCOT culture
  • Follows standard practices and procedures in analyzing situations or data from which answers can be readily obtained
  • Contributes to specific objectives and outcomes as directed
  • Designs and performs steady-state and dynamic contingency analyses using power flow models (PSSE, VSAT, TSAT, or Powerworld) under the direction of a senior level engineer or management
  • Designs and performs production cost modeling (UPLAN) studies to accomplish economic transmission planning under the direction of a senior level engineer or management
  • Helps develop improvements to transmission planning and market forecasting processes
  • Assists in providing input and analyses from the planning perspective on market/protocol design issues
  • Assists in providing market simulation/forecasting and transmission planning analyses to support other activities
  • Structures appropriate planning studies and sensitivity analyses to determine the need for improvements and evaluate proposed projects, including technical and financial analyses
  • Participates in multifunctional teams to obtain input, address comments, and perform studies
  • Assists in developing tools, processes and procedures that enhance system reliability and departmental/organizational efficiencies
  • Participates with other ERCOT departments to select and implement system changes as needed
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience performing large-scale dynamic stability analyses using power system simulation tools (PSSE, TSAT, Powerworld)
  • Experience with EMT simulation tools (PSCAD), especially for large-scale system analysis
  • Experience evaluating and updating power system dynamic models
  • Experience programming and developing simulation automation tools (Python)
  • Experience assessing and mitigating sub-synchronous resonance issues
  • Experience assisting in the development of improvements to transmission planning processes and familiarity with NERC reliability standards
  • PE Professional Engineer (Preferred)

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Austin, Texas

Founded

1970

Simplify Jobs

Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • ERCOT implemented RTC+B on December 5, 2025, optimizing batteries in real-time.
  • ERCOT appointed Bill Flores as board chair, adding policy expertise.
  • ERCOT hired Keith Collins as VP Market Operations from Southwest Power Pool.

What critics are saying

  • Inverter control interactions cause grid instability within 12-24 months.
  • Renewable interconnections exceed modeling capabilities in 6-12 months.
  • Uncoordinated inverters produce harmonics damaging equipment in 18-36 months.

What makes Ercot unique

  • ERCOT's GRIT program partners with UT Austin for inverter-based resource simulations.
  • ERCOT launched GRIT website section to promote emerging grid technologies.
  • ERCOT manages 90% of Texas load with 55,000 miles of transmission lines.

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Benefits

Remote Work Options

Flexible Work Hours

Health Insurance

Paid Vacation

PTO/vacation

Company News

Uvalde Hesperian
Mar 26th, 2026
ERCOT and University of Texas partner to research next-generation energy technologies.

ERCOT and University of Texas partner to research next-generation energy technologies. (Austin, TX) - The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) today announced a collaboration with The University of Texas (UT) at Austin to study how fast-growing inverter-based technologies, like those used in solar, wind, and battery storage systems, can enhance grid reliability. Today's announcement is part of ERCOT's ongoing efforts to utilize emerging technologies and innovation to meet growing electric demand. Inverter-based technologies generate electricity as Direct Current (DC) - the same type of power stored in a household battery - which must be converted to Alternating Current (AC) before it can flow into the grid. This conversion is handled automatically by an electronic device called an inverter. As these technologies become an increasingly larger part of the grid, understanding their impact is critical to maintaining reliable power for Texas homes and businesses. As part of ERCOT's Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) program, UT will help ERCOT anticipate challenges related to simulation platforms, control interactions, and power quality issues that may come with very high penetrations of inverter-based resources on the Texas electric grid. "Given the complexity and rapid development of this technology, this collaboration will help us look into the future, anticipate challenges, and identify solutions while we still have some time to prepare," said Prashant Kansal, ERCOT Director of Grid Transformation. "By combining ERCOT's operational insights and UT's research expertise, Texans will benefit from a stronger, more reliable grid." Under this partnership, UT researchers will build computer simulations and models of inverter-based resources interconnected with the electric grid to test reliability in a range of potential real-world scenarios. "Inverter-based resources are emerging rapidly and are very promising. However, their controllers introduce new behavior in grids and must be carefully coordinated," said Professor Brian Johnson of UT's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. UT Professor Surya Santoso noted, "By studying their behavior under a wide variety of control and operating conditions, reliability, harmonics, and other power-quality-interaction risks can be better understood and managed." The findings will help determine whether these risks warrant additional monitoring and guide the implementation of mitigation strategies. Fred Huang, ERCOT Senior Director, Grid Stability Analysis, said, "The ability to identify potential issues before they arise and develop practical solutions applicable to real-world grid operations helps ERCOT create a more reliable grid to serve Texans and meet the state's evolving power needs." About Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) ERCOT's Grid Research, Innovation, and Transformation (GRIT) initiative utilizes research and collaboration to identify and test emerging technologies that will better prepare the grid to meet increasing demands. Visit the GRIT webpages to learn more. ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, manages the flow of electric power to more than 27 million Texas customers, representing about 90 percent of the state's electric load. As the Independent System Operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects 55,000+ miles of transmission lines and 1,460+ generation units, including Private Use Networks. ERCOT also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for more than 8 million premises in competitive choice areas. ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature. Post Views: 4

Cities Served by Oncor
Sep 24th, 2025
ERCOT Announces New Collaborative Initiative to Promote Emerging Technologies

ERCOT also announced that it has launched a new GRIT section on its website.

CoinsHolder
Jul 2nd, 2025
Powerledger's TraceX Integrates with ERCOT for Enhanced REC Trading

Powerledger has announced the integration of its renewable energy certificates (RECs) trading platform, TraceX, with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

JD Supra
Mar 4th, 2025
Key Takeaways | Renewable Energy Developers' Perspectives

On February 27, 2025, Partner Allison Perlman moderated a panel during Infocast's ERCOT Market Summit 2025 that examined ongoing changes to the renewable energy development landscape within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

NBC DFW
Jan 6th, 2025
ERCOT issues Weather Watch as cold weather settles into North Texas

In 2023, ERCOT announced the launch of the Texas Advisory and Notification System (TXANS) which includes two alerts, the ERCOT Weather Watch and a Voluntary Conservation Notice where Texans will be asked to voluntarily reduce usage during peak times - if it is safe to do so.