Interconnection Specialist

UGE develops, owns, and operates community and commercial solar and energy storage projects across the United States. With over a decade of experience in the industry, we are on the front lines, working to accelerate the transition to clean energy. Our team is growing quickly, and we seek talented and motivated individuals to join our project development team.

The Interconnection Specialist will play a crucial role in ensuring smooth and timely interconnection of our projects with various utilities in our primary markets. These currently include several states in the northeast, mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Texas and California. The Interconnection Specialist’s primary responsibility will be to track and understand utility interconnection requirements across multiple utilities and be the subject matter expert for the interconnection workflow from project initiation to completion. This is a key position that requires strong project management skills, technical acumen, and the ability to effectively collaborate with internal teams and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

1. Serve as the main point of contact with utilities across UGE’s primary markets.
2. Initiate, review, and disseminate third party studies for electric transmission system planning, including future grid scenarios, basis, and congestion reports
3. Conduct interconnection queue analysis to identify project related impacts and strategic queue position strategies to maximize the project sizing and minimize the interconnection cost and timeline of projects
4. Review and analyze data to determine the transmission and interconnection grid capacity required for the successful delivery of solar and storage projects across UGE company portfolio
5. Manage all project queue positions and track interconnection processes, study timing, schedule impact and interconnect requests
6. Schedule management, financial forecasting, prime contract compliance, progress reporting, customer, and community relations, etc.
7. Negotiate interconnection agreements in each utility and/or RTO/ISO
8. Track RTO/ISO interconnection stake holder meetings and tariff changes
9. Provide technical support and expertise for solar and energy storage projects to various internal teams within the organization
10. Support UGE’s growth across the US

Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in the solar industry or related field, with at least 3 years of experience in managing utility and/or RTO/ISO interconnection processes.
• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in electrical engineering, renewable energy, or a related field (or equivalent work experience).
• Confident communicator
• Thorough knowledge of local and national utility regulations and interconnection standards.
• Familiarity with transmission design, interconnection processes, basis and congestion studies, and RTO/ISO/utility queue dynamics.
• Strong understanding of solar energy systems, battery energy storage systems, and electrical engineering principles.
• Familiarity with electric grid analytic software and baseline modeling assumptions.
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills to interact effectively with utility representatives and internal teams.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and capable of managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Problem-solving mindset with the ability to overcome challenges and find creative solutions.
• Passion for sustainable energy and a desire to contribute to a cleaner, greener future.
• Experience with MS Office, utilizing CRMs, project management tools (e.g. Gantt charts), shared folder drives, and similar tools
• Willingness to travel occasionally

Benefits & Compensation

• Competitive salary
• Option to enroll in a fully paid Medical, Dental and Vision plan
• 19 Vacation/Sick Days
• Ability to work in a remote/hybrid model
• Smart, collaborative, and fun team making a tangible impact on our transition to the clean energy future and health of our planet
• 401K Employer Match