Principal Operator

Under the direction of the Senior Manager of Energy Markets, the Principal Operator provides technical expertise across multiple functional areas within Energy Markets. This position is responsible for offering subject matter expertise and support to operators across functional lines and supporting development efforts for both the Gas and Power Marketing and the Resource Dispatch and Trading teams. The role works closely with the Supervisor of Resource Dispatch and Trading and the Supervisor of Power and Gas Marketing to ensure alignment of strategies, standards, and operational practices between the two groups.

Hiring Range:

$ 122,000-156,000

Education and Training:

• BA/BS degree in Engineering, Business, Economics, Finance, Marketing or related discipline or an equivalent combination of experience and/or education.

Knowledge, Skills, and Ability:

• Advanced knowledge of electric power and natural gas markets
• Advanced knowledge of regional electric markets and transmission systems, including organized markets and bilateral markets.
• Advanced knowledge of

SCADA/EMS

• Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and written.
• Responsible for providing subject matter expertise across multiple functional areas of Energy Markets, offering guidance on market trends and trading strategies, and offering mentorship and oversight to support the development and success of junior team members.
• Responsible for creating and maintaining up-to-date operating procedures, guidelines, and policies that ensure consistent understanding and quality of functional task performed by operations staff.
• Monitor, analyze, and investigate Tri‑State's asset performance in energy markets to identify trends, issues, and opportunities for improvement.
• Troubleshoots and continuously looks for ways to improve situational awareness screens, software and

SCADA/EMS

• Serve as a primary contact during system disturbances and market volatility events.
• Act as SME for day-ahead and real-time energy markets across ISO/RTO regions (e.g., CAISO and SPP).
• Serve as backup coverage for open shifts as needed to support reliable operations.
• Translate market rule changes into operational procedures and trading adjustments
• Ensure compliance with ISO/RTO tariff requirements and NERC standards while monitoring exposure to imbalance charges, uplift, and other operational risks.
• Partner with Risk Management to validate positions and constraints, and lead root cause analysis for market deviations and settlement discrepancies.
• Coordinate closely with Gas Power and Marketing, Resource Dispatch and Trading Market Analysis, and Settlements and regulatory groups to support efficient and proactive market participation.
• Support outage planning and transmission coordination
• Responsible for department execution of Tri-State business strategies related to short-term load forecasting, resource, and contract management, optimizing energy management operations across multiple electric market structures and Balancing Authority Areas.
• Represent the organization in ISO stakeholder meetings when required
• Responsible for short-term transaction execution (including hedge execution) of approved electricity products, transmission and ancillary service products, natural gas supply and transportation products, and environmental-based products within the bounds of business strategy and risk management goals and objectives.
• Responsible for submitting accurate resource bids/offers; managing electric and natural gas scheduling; processing transmission, NITS, and gas transportation requests; reporting planned outages; providing short‑term transaction data (including book‑outs) for Settlements; and logging key operational events across prompt‑month and day‑ahead periods while supporting Settlements checkout activities.
• Responsible for the economic dispatch of Tri-State generation fleet, taking into consideration operating constraints such as fuel, emissions and greenhouse gas limits, along with the scheduling coordination and confirmation of planned and economic outages with plant management.
• Assure that all power and gas-related contracts are administered within contract requirements, including reserve sharing group obligations.
• Assure that monitoring of OASIS is performed for planned transmission outages and prepare contingency plans for serving Tri-State and customer load.
• Maintain compliance with all company policies and procedures and attain knowledge and remain knowledgeable of regulations, laws, standards, and best practices applicable to functional area.
• Because Tri-State has an obligation to provide continuous, reliable service to its customers, the ability to work overtime at any time of the day or week is considered an essential function of the job.