Energy Delivery

Energy Delivery: Technical and Engineering Positions for Moving Power
As one of the nation's largest energy companies, we know what it takes to generate and deliver electricity safely and reliably to our customers: A large workforce of highly-trained, dedicated and motivated men and women.

Electricity is an essential service, delivered through our transmission and distribution system. And it works because of the people who dedicate themselves every day to providing the safe and reliable service that customers expect and deserve. Our Open Positions page lists our current opportunities in Energy Delivery.

Technical
This section outlines the primary responsiblities of line and substation workers. If you do not have experience but are interested in this type of work, please go to the Energy Delivery Power Systems Institute section of the Technical Training page for educational opportunities to join these professions.

Line Worker. These individuals are responsible for construction, maintenance and repair of transmission and distribution lines. Primary activities include:

Working on energized and de-energized overhead and underground lines and equipment
Responding to events, such as outages, resulting from adverse weather conditions, car-pole accidents and other emergencies
Installing and remove poles and equipment
Locating faults on various types of underground conductors, primary and secondary lines, service and streetlights
Patrolling lines and inspecting poles, transformers, reclosers and other electrical devices and equipment
Installing, repairing and/or replacing transformers, switches, fuses, conductors and other devices and equipment

Line work is physically demanding where you'll be exposed to all types of weather conditions and temperature extremes. All line workers are expected to be able to safely work on energized and de-energized transmission and distribution facilities. The majority of the work will be on the distribution system involving work on poles ranging from 35 to 50 feet. Line workers must be able to safely climb wood poles and steel towers to perform their work. Other requirements include a class "A" Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and the ability to operate various other types of large equipment, including boom trucks, bucket trucks, forklifts, trenching equipment, backhoes and other pieces of line-construction equipment.

Substation Electrician. Just as our power lines need to be maintained, so do substations. The substation electrician is responsible for constructing, inspecting and maintaining all substation equipment. Activities include:

Installing, maintaining and repairing motors, controls and electrical equipment
Calculating peak and load
Performing substation voltage switching
Reading and recording volt meters, watt hour meters and other substation meters
Testing performance

Not only will you need to climb steel structures and perform tasks in elevated locations - up to 70 feet high - you'll also have to work safely in confined and underground spaces, while in close proximity to high-voltage equipment. Plus, you'll be responsible for operating forklifts, trenchers and backhoes, as well as commercial vehicles.

Engineering
As an electric utility, we're always looking for experience engineers to join our team. And right now, numerous engineering positions are available in our distribution and transmission business segment, Energy Delivery.

Planning and Protection. (Electrical Engineers, Professional Engineer Certification - PE - preferred)
Responsibilities include:

Analyzing transmission and lower voltage networks
Supporting and maintaining databases
Initiating projects to correct thermal overloads, undervoltage conditions, and system protection deficiencies
Evaluating the impacts and facility addition requirements associated with new loads, generation and power transfer reservations
Coordinating activities within the Energy Delivery function and with the FirstEnergy Regions, power plants, customers and other utilities
Monitoring system reliability and performance
Using complex computer software applications for load flows, fault studies, impedance calculations, and protective relay coordination

Substation Maintenance
(Electrical Engineers, Professional Engineer Certification - PE - preferred)
These individuals provide field engineering services and technical support for the maintenance, construction, testing, and commissioning of substation equipment up to and including 500 kilovolts. Responsibilities include:

Identifying and resolving substation technical problems
Initiating corrective action to reduce or eliminate equipment failures
Developing maintenance practices
Writing technical reports
Troubleshooting substation problems
Recommending solutions to problems that include analysis of risks, costs and benefits
Traveling throughout the FirstEnergy system, including periodic overnight stays

Transmission & Substation Design. (Electrical Engineers, Professional Engineer Certification - PE - preferred)
These individuals provide engineering for complex transmission and substation projects. Responsibilities include:

Providing design and calculation for one-line diagrams, electrical layouts, AC & DC systems, grounding, oil containment, relay & control schematics and wiring diagrams, conduit layouts, control building layouts, lightning protection, SCADA, and permitting requirements
Directing the activities of a design work group to complete assignments and meet schedules for substation projects
Conducting field inspections of substation projects to determine compliance with engineering design, and coordinate construction activities to meet project schedules
Obtaining all needed materials and equipment for substation projects
Preparing estimates and schedules for substation projects
Reviewing manufacturer's drawings for compliance to Company specifications
Reviewing and updating Substation Design Standards
Determining ways to reduce costs of substation projects by using innovative and creative design

Operating Company Engineering Support. (Electrical Engineers or Mechanical Engineers considered, Professional Engineer Certification - PE - Preferred)
These individuals provide planning for regional distribution systems and local transmission network.
Responsibilities include:

Investigating and developing studies to recommend and drive the necessary expansions and modifications to these systems to maintain a reliable electrical infrastructure that meets present and future electrical needs
Performing root cause analysis to resolve regulatory agencies and customer inquiries, which might be associated with outages and other reliability issues
Conducting field investigations and communicating with customers to provide recommendations and implement corrective measures
Demonstrating proficiency in engineering analysis software to model distribution system, calculate voltage drop and fault currents of circuits
Preparing budget estimates and schedules for system reinforcement projects
Providing storm restoration support and hazard dispatching duties during storm restoration efforts; receive, investigate, coordinate, and respond to customer inquiries/complaints related to outages
Performing distribution circuit planning using a utility industry software package

Engineering Rotational Program
FirstEnergy offers an innovative Energy Delivery engineering rotational program. This program typically is for new engineers, but experienced engineers also can participate. The program includes a brief orientation, and six months each in the following areas:

Planning and Protection (including a week in Transmission Operations)
Substation Maintenance (Equipment and Relay & Control)
Transmission & Substation Design (substation Engineering, Capital Budget and Major Equipment, Transmission Line Design)
Operating Company (Operations and Operations Support, and Other - including engineering services in our regional operating locations)

(07/05/07)