Description: Odds are good that you pay your monthly electricity bill to a large, rate-regulated utility. These organizations are the sole suppliers of electricity in their defined service territories, and oversee the entire generation, transmission, and distribution network in these areas. Due to their monopoly power, these utilities are subject to extensive government oversight, and must have their capital expenditures and electricity rates approved by the state Public Service Commission. Large utilities have an abundance of different roles, meaning they will hire from pretty much any type of academic background.

Roles: Financial planning & analysis, regulatory affairs, electrical engineering, energy development, asset management, accounting, legal, tax specialists, software/IT, customer relations, marketing, and more

Recruiting Timeline: The timeline for all utility recruiting is relatively similar and tends to be on the later side, with application deadlines typically falling in the winter or early spring. Large investor owned utilities (IOUs) will likely have the earliest recruiting timelines, with some of their deadlines falling as early as October/November.

Recruiting Process: Resume and cover letter screening, one/multiple rounds of behavioral interviews. Interviews are usually non-technical, but demonstrating energy experience is a huge plus, especially an understanding of how utilities operate and make money (see resources).

Description: In other regions, no monopoly power exists in the utility market, and different companies compete to offer the lowest prices to consumers. Texas is the best example of a fully deregulated market with consumers being able to chose their electricity provider. These competitive utilities function similarly to the rate-regulated utilities, but are subject to less regulatory scrutiny and focus more on marketing and price competition. Generally, these firms do less development work, as they are more likely to buy power in the market rather than produce it themselves.

Roles: Financial planning & analysis, regulatory affairs, electrical engineering, energy trading, accounting, legal, tax specialists, software/IT, customer relations, marketing, and more.

Recruitment Timeline: Very similar to the large rate-regulated utilities, but slightly later. Application deadlines in the winter and spring.

Recruitment Process: Resume and cover letter screening, one/multiple rounds of behavioral interviews. Interviews are usually non-technical, but demonstrating energy experience is a huge plus, especially an understanding of how utilities operate and make money (see resources).

Description: Electricity cooperatives are local, independent utilities that are owned by the customers of the cooperative. They are generally more common in rural areas that were not originally served by the major utilities. Municipal utilities are owned and operated by local governments (city, county, etc.) and may include other services including waste removal, water supply, etc. Both co-ops and municipal systems operate as non-profits and give customers much more input over the generation mix and utility operations. They are generally much smaller than investor-owned utilities (IOUs).

Roles: Financial planning & analysis, energy development and transmission (smallerscale), regulatory affairs, electrical engineering, marketing (for co-ops), legal, tax, community relations/PR

Recruitment Timeline: Less formal recruiting process, so it may be hard to find online deadlines. Those that do hire are generally very late, with deadlines in the spring. Best to network with/reach out to people who work at these utilities to find out more info about opportunities.

Recruitment Process: Resume and cover letter screening, one/multiple rounds of behavioral interviews. Interviews are usually non-technical, but demonstrating energy experience is a huge plus.

Description: While many things in a home run off electricity, there are some appliances that run directly off natural gas or oil, namely hot water heaters, stoves, and central heating. Often a separate company (different from the utility) owns the natural gas pipelines or oil distribution network. These companies source the natural gas/oil, maintain the pipelines, and ensure prompt delivery to customers.

Roles: Financial planning & analysis, energy trading, civil/structural engineering, energy forecasting, accounting, legal, tax

Recruitment Timeline: Generally on the later side. Application deadlines in the winter/spring. Most posted positions are likely to be engineering-based, so you may have to network to find more finance/policy oriented roles.

Recruitment Process: Resume and cover letter screening, one/multiple rounds of behavioral interviews. Interviews are usually non-technical, but demonstrating energy experience is a huge plus.