Hello BITOG community. I've been lurking this forum for at least a decade but decided to join a few days ago. Made a few posts in one of @OVERKILL threads and there seemed to be a bit of interest in power system operations so I decided to make an AMA. Was going to do this a couple days ago but got busy helping my in-laws move (they purchased a house around the corner from my family to have everyone closer together).
I'll get a few things out of the way to get things going:
Cars:
2012 GMC Canyon 2.9/auto. PuP 5/30, Amsoil SS trans fluid, Amsoil Severe Gear 75/90
2013 Ford Fusion 2.0 EB(wife's car). PuP 5/30(with HPL EC and switching to HPL PCMO 5/30), Amsoil SS trans fluid
1966 Ford Bronco 170" I6, 3spd man. Amsoil Z-Rod 20/50, Amsoil manual transmission & gear oil 75/90 for both.
I've been in utilities since 2001. Started off in power plant construction traveling the West Coast. Became a power plant operator in January of 2007 at a natural gas fired steam turbine facility. Initial plant was scheduled to be decommissioned in 2013 so I moved on to an opportunity at a combustion turbine facility in 2012. Became a lead operator in 2013. After a sale of the facility to an oil company who signed a 2yr contract to keep the facilities purchased online I decided to get my NERC system operator license and move onto power system operations as power plants were becoming an unstable career choice in CA. In 2016 I took a position with a large NorCal utility as an apprentice transmission system operator. Finished the program early and decided (very early on) that I wasn't going to stay at that entity due to the excessive amount of overtime (>1,000hrs/yr to start) and a few other reasons. In 2018 I took a position as a water & power dispatcher scheduling hydroelectric generators & pumping plants into the energy market. Became a shift supervisor (senior dispatcher) in 2020 and have remained in this position since.
These positions have given me experience in several areas of the bulk electric system. From generation to reliability to market operations. I'm willing to answer questions that have public information available but realize there are limitations to what can be disclosed. When appropriate, I will attempt to direct those interested to publicly available information for their own further information gathering.
So again, welcome BITOG community. This is a great forum with a plethora of information available. Whenever I've been curious about something, the vast majority of the time I was able to find it here (lubrication or filter related obviously). I'm currently working 12hr night shifts through Sunday morning so I won't be responding to questions during the daytime for obvious reasons.
I'll get a few things out of the way to get things going:
Cars:
2012 GMC Canyon 2.9/auto. PuP 5/30, Amsoil SS trans fluid, Amsoil Severe Gear 75/90
2013 Ford Fusion 2.0 EB(wife's car). PuP 5/30(with HPL EC and switching to HPL PCMO 5/30), Amsoil SS trans fluid
1966 Ford Bronco 170" I6, 3spd man. Amsoil Z-Rod 20/50, Amsoil manual transmission & gear oil 75/90 for both.
I've been in utilities since 2001. Started off in power plant construction traveling the West Coast. Became a power plant operator in January of 2007 at a natural gas fired steam turbine facility. Initial plant was scheduled to be decommissioned in 2013 so I moved on to an opportunity at a combustion turbine facility in 2012. Became a lead operator in 2013. After a sale of the facility to an oil company who signed a 2yr contract to keep the facilities purchased online I decided to get my NERC system operator license and move onto power system operations as power plants were becoming an unstable career choice in CA. In 2016 I took a position with a large NorCal utility as an apprentice transmission system operator. Finished the program early and decided (very early on) that I wasn't going to stay at that entity due to the excessive amount of overtime (>1,000hrs/yr to start) and a few other reasons. In 2018 I took a position as a water & power dispatcher scheduling hydroelectric generators & pumping plants into the energy market. Became a shift supervisor (senior dispatcher) in 2020 and have remained in this position since.
These positions have given me experience in several areas of the bulk electric system. From generation to reliability to market operations. I'm willing to answer questions that have public information available but realize there are limitations to what can be disclosed. When appropriate, I will attempt to direct those interested to publicly available information for their own further information gathering.
So again, welcome BITOG community. This is a great forum with a plethora of information available. Whenever I've been curious about something, the vast majority of the time I was able to find it here (lubrication or filter related obviously). I'm currently working 12hr night shifts through Sunday morning so I won't be responding to questions during the daytime for obvious reasons.