2025 Shultz Energy Fellowships: Western Electricity Coordinating Council
Regional-, state-, and city-level efforts are essential in our fight against climate change, especially in the field of energy. Stanford University is committed to helping by integrating its students into energy and climate ecosystems in the West through the Shultz Energy Fellowships program, an energy-related summer fellowship program for undergraduate and graduate students.
Named in honor of former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, one of the most widely admired American public servants of the past half-century, the program offers a suite of paid, energy-related public service fellowships for Stanford students in California, Colorado, Utah, and Hawaii during the summer.
The fellowship runs from Monday, June 23, 2025 to Friday, August 29, 2025.
Western Electricity Coordinating Council
The Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) promotes the reliability of the bulk electric system reliability in the Western Interconnection. WECC is the regional entity responsible for compliance monitoring and enforcement. In addition, WECC provides an environment for developing reliability standards and coordinating the operational and planning activities of its members, as set in the WECC Bylaws.
WECC is geographically the largest and most diverse of the six regional entities with delegated authority from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The WECC’s region extends from Canada to Mexico and includes the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the northern part of Baja California, Mexico, and all or parts of 14 Western states.
WECC’s mission is to promote and foster a reliable and efficient bulk electric system. WECC’s vision is to lead its stakeholders to achieve the best possible system reliability, be the premier source of unbiased information, and serve as the trusted authority for the Western Interconnection. For more information, visit wecc.org.
2025 Fellowship Project
The West is a patchwork of different, sometimes contradicting, energy policies. These include policies on subjects ranging from energy efficiency to building codes, and clean energy mandates to protection of legacy generation types. These policies can drive changes in the operation and planning of the bulk power system and create an environment that introduces risks to reliability and resilience. Decisions about generation and transmission must consider the reliability and security of the larger grid. It is critical that policymakers understand the potential impacts of their decisions to avoid inadvertent reliability risks.
This internship will review various transmission plans: The Power of Place, Connected West, and similar documents that show transmission needs, optimization, and expansion. The participating student would then compare the various transmission work and plans to determine where they differ and where they converge, to determine a path forward on which policymakers and states might agree. With the information gathered, WECC will can more actively contribute to dialogue and determinations of
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How the combination of varying state policies affects transmission optimization and expansion, thus creating risk in the system,
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How the policies in one state interact with policies in other states and the potential effects on the power system,
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Whether there is opportunity for compromise and collaboration to expedite much-needed transmission to benefit reliability.
By the end of the internship, the fellow will present the findings of the analysis to the WECC team, industry experts, and others as needed or as time allows.
Potential Mentor
Travis English, Senior Training and Outreach Specialist, will be the student mentor for this project. The goal of training and outreach at WECC is to envision, collaborate, build, and conduct training programs internally and externally that inform and promote the reliability of the bulk power system in the Western Interconnection. Mr. English has a strong history of leading teams in the creation and development of training programs that cover topics across the industry, such as grid fundamentals; cyber and physical security; compliance, monitoring, and enforcement of standards; and results of reliability assessments and reports.
Work Environment
The role is 100% remote eligible. The fellow will be asked to come to Salt Lake City, Utah to meet the team at the beginning and at the close of the fellowship. Otherwise, the role is remote.
2024 WECC Fellows
- Tasnima Naoshin, MS '24 Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Vicky Zhang, MS '24 Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Learn more about Tasnima and Vicky's experience at WECC:
The ideal student candidates will have the following skills and knowledge:
Skills:
- Demonstrated research and analytical skills.
- Ability to quickly understand complex topics.
- Ability to think creatively, critically, and broadly about issues affecting electric reliability.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Experience using Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
- Ability to work independently as a member of a research team, and individually show initiative and seek guidance when necessary.
- Ability to work with stakeholders outside of the immediate work group.
Knowledge:
- Awareness of issues affecting electricity reliability.
- Interest in applying knowledge to understanding and mitigating reliability risks to the Western Interconnection.
All Shultz fellows must be enrolled in the spring quarter before their fellowship.
All Shultz fellows must take a one-unit spring workshop course, 'Energy Policy in California and the West' taught by Professor Bruce Cain and Visiting Fellow Felicia Marcus that will provide an in-depth analysis of the role of California state agencies, the Western Interstate Energy Board, and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council in driving energy policy development, technology innovation, and market structures. Course number is CEE 263G / POLISCI 73 / PUBLPOL 73 / ENERGY 73. Schedule: Wednesdays from 1:30pm - 2:30pm.
This position is open to both undergraduate and graduate students with a preference for graduate students in the selection process.
