Manager, Large Load Commercial Development

Company Description

About Us
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, Wabash Valley Power is a not-for-profit electric cooperative and wholesale provider of reliable, affordable electricity to our 21 electric distribution member cooperatives. These cooperatives in turn serve more than 280,000 homes, businesses, and farms in Indiana and Illinois.

As a not-for-profit co-op, we do things a bit differently—and that’s the point. Because we aren’t influenced by shareholders, we make our decisions with our members in mind. That means we value things like teamwork, and putting families first. It also means a business model that’s designed for stability and growth. It’s a Deliberately Different approach to the energy industry, and that’s great news for the people who count on us.

What You'll Get
We believe what benefits our employees benefits our company. That’s why we put employees first—your health, your family, and your development. These aren’t just slogans: We offer continuing education, flex time, health benefits, a 401(k) match and pension plan, and much more. Here are just a few of the things that make our company culture unique:

•   No Sweat   - We offer a wellness program that includes a payroll credit for medical insurance, an on-site fitness center for your convenience and extra vacation days for participating. We’ll even throw in a fitness device reimbursement to keep you on track!
•   Flex Time   - Our flexible schedule means you can work in your appointments or family events and maintain a comfortable work-life balance.
•   Stay in School  -  We value employees who have a desire to learn, so we provide funds for continuing education. We also offer in-house training and ongoing development through our internal GROW program.
•   Keep it Casual   - When you work for us, you work in comfort.  Blue jeans are the norm in our office and we make them look good!
•   Work Hard, Play Hard   - We reward our employees with generous vacation time, to the tune of up to five weeks off a year. Even our new employees receive credit for prior work experience.

Job Description

Wabash Valley Power Alliance is seeking a Manager, Large Load Commercial Development to lead the commercial development, power-supply sourcing, and coordination of significant new electric-load opportunities, including data centers, advanced manufacturing, industrial facilities, and other high-demand customers.

The position will serve as the commercial interface for large-load opportunities, working across Power Supply, engineering and transmission, finance, legal, regulatory, member utilities, customers, energy marketers, independent power producers, and other stakeholders. The Manager will develop customer and supply-side commercial structures that enable growth while appropriately managing risk and protecting the interests of WVPA's existing members.

Key Responsibilities

- Lead commercial development of large-load opportunities from initial evaluation through contracting and implementation.
- Serve as the primary commercial point of contact among WVPA, member systems, prospective customers, developers, and other stakeholders.
- Develop and negotiate proposals, term sheets, Energy Services Agreements, special contracts, and other customer commercial arrangements.
- Identify, evaluate, solicit, and negotiate power-supply opportunities with energy marketers, independent power producers, generation owners, and other wholesale power suppliers.
- Develop and evaluate bilateral power purchase agreements, structured energy and capacity products, tolling or generation-backed arrangements, and other supply alternatives appropriate for serving large loads.
- Lead or support competitive solicitations and direct negotiations for energy, capacity, and related products necessary to meet large-load requirements.
- Evaluate customer load requirements, ramp schedules, supply needs, project economics, credit support, and commercial risks.
- Coordinate with Power Supply to evaluate generation, bilateral purchases, market products, transmission, capacity, resource adequacy, and other solutions for serving new loads.
- Evaluate customer and supplier proposals together to ensure that the resulting commercial structure appropriately addresses pricing, volume, performance, credit, timing, and other material risks.
- Lead cross-functional teams involving Power Supply, engineering, transmission, finance, legal, regulatory, and other internal resources.
- Develop commercial structures that appropriately allocate incremental costs and risks while maintaining fairness among WVPA's existing members and large-load customers.
- Coordinate project due diligence, including power availability, infrastructure requirements, development schedules, and overall feasibility.
- Monitor wholesale power markets, utility large-load practices, power-supply opportunities, and evolving commercial structures.
- Prepare recommendations and decision materials for senior management and the Board.

Qualifications

Required:

- Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, economics, engineering, energy, or a related field.
- 7+ years of experience in the electric utility, wholesale power, energy marketing, generation development, commercial development, or a related field.
- Strong understanding of wholesale electricity markets, power purchase agreements, energy and capacity products, generation economics, transmission, and resource adequacy.
- Experience negotiating significant commercial transactions with utilities, energy marketers, IPPs, generation owners, or large commercial/industrial customers.
- Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-functional projects and negotiations.
- Strong financial, analytical, negotiation, contract-development, and project-management skills.
- Ability to translate technical, regulatory, and power-market issues into commercial decisions.
- Strong executive-level written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred:

- Advanced degree in a relevant field.
- Experience supporting commercial development involving data centers, advanced manufacturing, large industrial customers, or generation development.
- Experience with MISO and/or other RTO/ISO markets, strongly preferred .

Additional Information

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

- Ability to safely and successfully perform the essential job functions consistent with the ADA, FMLA, and other federal, state, and local standards, including meeting qualitative and/or quantitative productivity standards.
- Ability to maintain regular, punctual attendance consistent with the ADA, FMLA, and other federal, state, and local standards.
- Must be able to talk, listen, and speak clearly on the telephone.
- Primarily works in a professional office environment.
- Occasional travel is required to attend conferences, meetings, and other business-related events, including travel throughout WVPA member territories.
- Occasional evening or extended hours may be required based on business needs.

Additional Information

This job description summarizes the primary duties and qualifications of the position and is not intended to be an exhaustive list. Responsibilities may change based on operational needs. The cooperative is an equal opportunity employer and considers qualified applicants without regard to any status protected by applicable law.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.