2026 Shultz Energy Fellowships: California Department of Water Resources: Power Operations Management (Graduate students)
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, and Utah during the summer.
The fellowships run from Monday, June 22, 2026 to Friday, August 28, 2026.
Organization/Agency mission or role in state government
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) manages the state's water, overseeing the massive State Water Project (SWP) to deliver water, power, and recreation; planning for future needs; protecting against floods and droughts; restoring the Delta; enforcing dam safety; and providing technical/financial help for local water projects, all while balancing environmental goals with human needs through research, data, and public education.
Potential Project
Conduct power planning study for SWP operational strategy: The SWP O&M- POM conducts the SWP’s Flexible Resource Study, in which the objective is to sustain reliable SWP water deliveries, and, to efficiently operate within CAISO current and future power market design constraints (price trends, ancillary services, renewable integration, capacity, etc.) This includes investigating: new operational strategies, physical changes to DWR-owned facilities, and deployment of new technologies at existing pumping and generation plants, to better position the project to participate in the State’s emerging renewable resources focused energy market. Examples of current studies include, but not limited to, energy and pumped storage modeling, and integration of battery storage and solar generation at select pumping plants.
Work Environment
This is a hybrid opportunity.
Mentors
- Cheryl Luu, Manager Power Systems Planning and Contracts Branch
- Fawm Saefong, Manager Power Resources Unit
Desired Skills
- Preferred: Modeling, analytical skills using quantitative analysis and computer software, etc.
- Programming Skills (i.e. Python)
- Some knowledge on wholesale energy markets (CAISO)
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' 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 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm.
