Substation Apprentice Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

The Permanent High Voltage Substation Technician provides continuous, localized oversight, maintenance, and emergency response for dedicated utility-scale substation asset. Operating under a long-term Balance of Plant (BOP) contract, this individual serves as the primary on-site technical expert. The role guarantees daily facility integrity, rapid fault remediation, and seamless grid reliability for localized renewable generation or transmission infrastructure.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Daily Site Stewardship: Conduct routine physical walk-downs, thermal imaging scans, and visual inspections of localized substation assets.
• Perform inspections on met towers, maintain culverts and simple road repairs.
• Equipment Maintenance & Testing: Execute preventive and corrective maintenance on transformers, circuit breakers, disconnect switches, and instrument transformers.
• Diagnostic Execution: Lead routine electrical testing, including insulation resistance (Megger), transformer turns ratio (TTR), and contact resistance.
• Local Grid Coordination: Coordinate switching orders, voltage schedules, and plant curtailments directly with the local interconnecting utility and balancing authority.
• BOP Compliance Management: Manage on-site NERC PRC-005 compliance records, battery bank testing logs, and environmental SPCC containment checks.
• Rapid Emergency Response: Serve as the first line of defense for localized forced outages, diagnostic alarms, or weather-induced grid events.
• Contractor Monitoring: Supervise specialized third-party testing crews or OEM technicians during major turnarounds or transformer oil processing.
• Support the owner with various contractors on site performing post construction inspections.

Safety & Environmental Leadership:

1. Zero-Incident Culture: Maintain strict compliance with OSHA regulations, site-specific safety rules, and NFPA 70E electrical safety standards.
2. Daily Hazard Analysis: Lead the Job Safety Environmental Analysis (JSEA) process for all on-site personnel and local contractors daily.
3. LOTO Control: Serve as the primary Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) isolation coordinator, ensuring a safe work zone through strict switching execution.
4. Facility Environmental Compliance: Monitor localized oil-containment systems, track SF6 gas inventory, and maintain site spill-prevention materials, vegetation inspections and hand removal in areas of immediate concern.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Experience: 3–5 years of dedicated experience in high-voltage substation maintenance, utility operations, or localized renewable BOP environments.
• Technical Education: Associate degree in Electrical Technology, completed electrical apprenticeship, or equivalent military technical training[RG2.1][MV2.2].
• Certifications: OSHA 10/30, NFPA 70E, and CPR/First Aid certifications are highly preferred.
• Schematic Proficiency: Exceptional skill in reading complex electrical schematics, logic diagrams, three-line prints, and wiring diagrams.
• Autonomy: High degree of technical independence and self-motivation to manage site needs without constant direct supervision.

Working Conditions & Local Physical Demands:

• Zero Travel Lifestyle: Position is strictly local to the designated regional facility asset hub, requiring no overnight travel.
• Outdoor Resilience: Ability to work outdoors year-round in regional weather extremes and navigate gravel-heavy substation yards.
• On-Call Availability: Participation in a regular, localized on-call rotation for evening, weekend, and holiday emergency response.[RG3.1][MV3.2] Must be on call 24-7 unless time off is scheduled with management.
• Proximity Requirement: Must reside within a designated radius (e.g., 45–60 minutes) of the primary substation facility for response windows.

Core Values:

Green Energy Technical Services Group is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to engaging a diverse workforce and sustaining an inclusive culture. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, veteran status, disability, or any other protected status.