Financial Analyst

Summary :

The Grid Integration Interconnection department collaborates with internal and third-party customers that have submitted generator interconnection requests for solar, battery, and other generation energy sources.

The department works cross functionally with Power Grid Operations, Renewable Service Center, Resource Planning, Finance, and other departments to support the interconnection queue and meet the carbon plan targets.

Within the Interconnection department, the Interconnection Business Controls team provides oversight for the financial processes to support the interconnection procedures.

This includes collaborating with Account Managers, and other departments on process development supporting state and federal regulated interconnection procedures, performing financial analysis on projects to interconnect new facilities, modeling cost allocation across multiple generators, tracking payments and securities received, and invoicing and refund processes.

The incumbent will develop familiarity with interconnection queue process and financial analysis of facilities during the interconnection process for study and construction.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to :

Interconnection Queue Financial Support (50%)

• Subject matter expert on interconnection procedures for NC, SC, and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) jurisdiction projects.
• Become subject matter expert on Interconnection cost allocation required by state and federal regulators. Specifically, become an expert on the cost allocation for the cost responsibility of the construction of network upgrades across multiple generators as identified in the cluster study process.
• Develop understanding and expertise on cost recovery mechanisms and their resulting accounting implications and financial statement impacts.
• Build and maintain cost allocation of actual costs incurred for each cluster as projects move to construction. Provide monthly deliverables to Finance and Project Controls to book journal entries related for cost allocation.
• Prepare financial true-up analysis on engineering study cost incurred versus estimate for Affected System requests and Provisional Service Requests to be recovered by external customers.
• Serve as data analyst in executing Cost Allocation Reporting Tool (CART) application project plan, a first in kind in-house tool being developed to track and report on estimate revisions, calculate cost allocation to facilities, and track project financial data.
• Participate in further design of the CART application in the technology roadmap.

Interconnection Queue Metrics Support (30%)

Create and analyze required reports for leadership including calculating KPI metrics and driving actions resulting from metric results.

This includes preparing construction cost and schedule metrics, studies completed on time, contracts tendered on-time.

• Analyze metric results and solicit feedback from stakeholder groups to identify actions analyze root cause, as necessary.
• Utilize PowerBI to report and present results of metric evaluations.

Process Development and Automation (20%)

• Support implementation of new interconnection management system by participating in process mapping, data readiness, and other implementation requirements.
• Perform data clean-up activities in relevant source systems supporting the interconnection queue and evolving KPI and financial reporting needs.
• Facilitate business process discussions with business stakeholders across multiple departments creating process maps and establishing roles and responsibilities as new business needs arise.
• Support development of new reporting and PowerBI dashboard requests.
• Explore transformation ideas for future true-up automation opportunities and establish roadmap to achieve transformation.

Preferred

• Utility Experience, particularly within Transmission and Distribution
• Certified Public Accounting License (CPA)
• Strong financial acumen required
• Master Degree in Finance, Accounting, or MBA
• Proficient in Word, PowerPoint; Experience using and adapting Salesforce, Powerclerk, PeopleSoft, Webi Financial Querying, Power Plan, Power BI, or other enterprise systems
• Experience with designing new processes preferred
• Exceptional written and oral communication skills, facilitation and people engagement skills, process documentation skills, internal control acumen
• Exceptional problem solving and analysis skills

Qualifications :

• Required Education : Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting or Finance.
• Advanced Excel proficient skills including use of complex formulas including pivot tables, vlookup, sumif, multiple if statements, arrays, etc.
• Ability to learn PowerBI report development and Basic SQL
• Strong collaboration and ability to effectively communicate with financial and non-financial backgrounds
• Ability to juggle multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to adapt to new industry standards requiring new business processes.
• Self-starter with ability to work independently with little supervision.
• Ability to quickly adjust to change.

Minimum Required Work Experience : 6 Years