Protection Engineer
Current• Create protection and integration design documents detailing equipment, wiring, and functions of distribution, transmission, and generation relay and protection schemes• Develop protective relay settings for lines, busses, transformers, capacitor banks, and generators ranging from 4 kV to 230 kV• Update and maintain Avista’s short-circuit model to provide an accurate baseline for protection studies• Perform protection coordination studies to develop overcurrent settings, distance settings, and communication-aided tripping schemes • Analyze relay oscillography and sequence of event recordings to evaluate the performance of Avista’s protection systems during faults• Design corrective action plans to address deficiencies in Avista’s protection systems• Write test plans and execute end-to-end testing for communication-aided protection schemes• Provide real-time engineering support to system operators and field personnel by answering questions and providing engineering guidance• Review protection and control drawings to ensure accuracy• Manage a team of consultants on large projects to ensure the satisfaction of project budgets, timelines, and expectations• Lead Avista’s Reliability and Controls Working Group by organizing monthly team meetings, developing sub-committees to complete compliance requirements, and advocating for the group’s success with upper leadership• Suggest and implement change within Avista’s protection philosophy to improve future standards and designs• Present and teach protection engineering topics both externally at conferences and internally as a mentor to peers• Build automated engineering tools to improve efficiency and accuracy within the group• Modify and refine internal processes and controls to ensure compliance with PRC and CIP requirements
