Electrical Utilities and ISO's

[Janitor]

Last year, I switched over from working from working in the oil and gas industry (2 years) to working for a utility for a year. In retrospect, the wage I took at this utility was below market. I saw their pay scales and I was very low for an engineer 1. This encouraged me more than it depressed me for the sole reason that switching industries was probably a good choice. The pay is decent and it is less volatile. From the payscale I saw, engineers maxed out around 100-120k with utilites. I suspect that this number is going to creep up some in the next few years due to the fact that 50-60% of the industry is going to turn over by 2014. I am now back on the market and my wife is riding me to negoatiate harder. Previously, I was just happy to get the experience I could get. I was always of the mindset that any experience I get now will be gold later. The area that I would like to get into is kind of specialized and the interviews that I have been getting have been with ISO's. So, how does working for an ISO compare to working for a utility? Do they pay about the same? Which offers the best experience?

 

[tlrols]

ISO's used to pay more to attract people from utilities...however, that is a one time deal when the ISO forms. Generally speaking ISO's are under great presuure to reduce their costs, so layoffs and pay freezes have been more typical lately.

Utilities own equipment and provide an actual service to the public (i.e. they sell power, not adminstrative overhead) so all in all I would recommend a utility over an ISO, RRO, ERO, etc. Utilities work with ISO's so if you were at a utility you could explore the idea of working at an ISO by chatting up the people at the ISO...