Team Leader Distribution Control Center
Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company, part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies, are regulated utilities that serve more than 1.3 million customers and have consistently ranked among the best companies for customer service in the United States. LG&E serves 334,000 natural gas and 433,000 electric customers in Louisville and 16 surrounding counties. KU serves 569,000 customers in 77 Kentucky counties and five counties in Virginia. LG&E and KU are major employers and active supporters of the communities they serve. They empower employees, community members and initiatives across their service territory through volunteerism and investments in organizations that support education, sustainability and wellbeing.
Overview
JOB PURPOSE
This position provides oversight and leadership to the Distribution Control Center to ensure the safe and effective monitoring, control, operation, and restoration of the LG&E-KU electric distribution system.
Responsibilities
Essential Functions
• Ensure safety of field resources and the safe operation of the LG&E – KU electric distribution system.
• Manages the distribution system operator training program. Includes tracking for advancement, developing and updating training materials, and operating procedures.
• Manages and directs operations to ensure the safe and efficient restoration of customers' electric service utilizing the Protect, Restore, and Repair philosophy.
• Provide leadership and direction of the day-to-day operations of the Distribution Control Center.
• Direct efficient restoration of customers’ electric service by using manual or computerized systems to analyze and prioritize probable outage locations and dispatch crews to those locations. Determine emergency switching sequences to isolate trouble and restore power.
• Investigates customer complaints regarding electric service outages and problems and makes necessary reports.
• Supervises Distribution System Operators in the dispatching of customer calls in NMS.
• Ensure effective communication with all field personnel, Transmission Control Center, critical/sensitive customers, supervisor, and other management as required.
• Ensure clearance is provided to field personnel following established Lock Out/Tag Out procedures for a safe working environment. Ensure that all field personnel maintain radio and/or telephone contact with Distribution Control Center and receive proper clearance before energizing any line or circuits.
• Ensure proper monitoring and operation of the SCADA system and effectively respond to alarms and outages via the remote operation of substation equipment and other SCADA field devices.
• Supervises and coordinates outage requests for transmission and distribution line crews and substation crews.
• Ensure appropriate computerized systems are utilized to their full potential and that operating procedures are consistently utilized.
• Assists with investigation of close call, unintended outage, safety and public incidents involving Company distribution facilities and equipment.
• Ensures timely reporting to the PSC and necessary Company personnel as required.
• Monitors distribution systems' loads, recommends and supervises load transfers between circuits and substations to avoid circuit overloads and phase unbalance.
• Maintain and produce various reports to ensure that electric distribution operations are meeting its established metrics.
• Responsible for the supervision, training, evaluation, and performance management of employees.
• Performs other duties as assigned by Group Leader and/or Manager.
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Complies with all policies and standards
Qualifications
Education & Experience
- Associate's Degree in Business, Applied Science, or Engineering.
- 5+ years related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience on a year-for-year basis
Preferred Qualifications
- Ability to identify, develop, and implement process improvements to increase overall efficiency in work execution.
- Ability to communicate effectively with employees, field resources, supervisors, and senior management.
- Demonstrated ability to act in a leadership capacity and create a strong team environment.
- Ability to operate in a changing environment and successful manage and implement change.
- Ability to analyze and solve problems from a business perspective.
- Ability to operate and make decisions in high stress emergency situations is critical.
- Demonstrated proficiency and/or working knowledge of Word, Excel, Smallworld, NMS, and EMS Systems
Essential Functions
• Ensure safety of field resources and the safe operation of the LG&E – KU electric distribution system.
• Manages the distribution system operator training program. Includes tracking for advancement, developing and updating training materials, and operating procedures.
• Manages and directs operations to ensure the safe and efficient restoration of customers' electric service utilizing the Protect, Restore, and Repair philosophy.
• Provide leadership and direction of the day-to-day operations of the Distribution Control Center.
• Direct efficient restoration of customers’ electric service by using manual or computerized systems to analyze and prioritize probable outage locations and dispatch crews to those locations. Determine emergency switching sequences to isolate trouble and restore power.
• Investigates customer complaints regarding electric service outages and problems and makes necessary reports.
• Supervises Distribution System Operators in the dispatching of customer calls in NMS.
• Ensure effective communication with all field personnel, Transmission Control Center, critical/sensitive customers, supervisor, and other management as required.
• Ensure clearance is provided to field personnel following established Lock Out/Tag Out procedures for a safe working environment. Ensure that all field personnel maintain radio and/or telephone contact with Distribution Control Center and receive proper clearance before energizing any line or circuits.
• Ensure proper monitoring and operation of the SCADA system and effectively respond to alarms and outages via the remote operation of substation equipment and other SCADA field devices.
• Supervises and coordinates outage requests for transmission and distribution line crews and substation crews.
• Ensure appropriate computerized systems are utilized to their full potential and that operating procedures are consistently utilized.
• Assists with investigation of close call, unintended outage, safety and public incidents involving Company distribution facilities and equipment.
• Ensures timely reporting to the PSC and necessary Company personnel as required.
• Monitors distribution systems' loads, recommends and supervises load transfers between circuits and substations to avoid circuit overloads and phase unbalance.
• Maintain and produce various reports to ensure that electric distribution operations are meeting its established metrics.
• Responsible for the supervision, training, evaluation, and performance management of employees.
• Performs other duties as assigned by Group Leader and/or Manager.
• Performs other duties as assigned
• Complies with all policies and standards
Education & Experience
- Associate's Degree in Business, Applied Science, or Engineering.
- 5+ years related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience on a year-for-year basis
Preferred Qualifications
- Ability to identify, develop, and implement process improvements to increase overall efficiency in work execution.
- Ability to communicate effectively with employees, field resources, supervisors, and senior management.
- Demonstrated ability to act in a leadership capacity and create a strong team environment.
- Ability to operate in a changing environment and successful manage and implement change.
- Ability to analyze and solve problems from a business perspective.
- Ability to operate and make decisions in high stress emergency situations is critical.
- Demonstrated proficiency and/or working knowledge of Word, Excel, Smallworld, NMS, and EMS Systems