Utility Operator

Company Biography
Utilities Kingston is located in Kingston, Ontario, equi-distant from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa, where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario and the Rideau Canal (a UNESCO World Heritage site) - Kingston is a stunning, historic city that consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in Canada. Kingston’s 123,363 community-minded citizens enjoy an outstanding quality-of-life enhanced by superb intellectual, recreational and creative opportunities and supported by excellent health care facilities and municipal services, programs and facilities.

Utilities Kingston is unique in Ontario, combining water, wastewater, gas, electrical services and broadband fibre optics services provided in one company under the leadership of a single C.E.O. This shared services delivery model gives Utilities Kingston clear advantages in cost savings and customer service over other utility providers in the province. Utilities Kingston has provided the residents of Kingston with safe and reliable utility services for more than 100 years.
Primary Duties
As an Apprentice System Operator, you will participate in a recognized program to become a certified System Operator. During this time, under the direction of a System Operator Journeyperson you will monitor the SCADA and Outage Management systems, and respond to distribution system events for Electric, water, wastewater, and gas utilities. You will analyze data and direct field crews, ensuring the safety of personnel, safeguarding distribution system equipment and minimizing the duration and affect of distribution system disturbances as you complete the necessary courses to qualify as a Journeyperson.

MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES
The essential responsibilities of a System Operator include but are not necessarily restricted to the following:

- Continuously monitor the distribution system via SCADA, Outage Management System, or other supervisory systems.
- Analyze all available data to maintain distribution systems integrity and operation within normal parameters.
- React to distribution systems disturbances for Electric, Gas, Water, & wastewater to minimize potential hazards to Utilities Kingston personnel and the public, minimizing the duration of system outages, and to safeguard distribution system equipment.
- Responsible for directing all field personnel activity related to System Controlled devices during normal and abnormal conditions.
- Prioritize restoration of services with respect to minimizing interruption duration. In the event of large-scale interruptions, the System Operator is responsible for determining restoration priorities and taking appropriate action.
- Ensure prompt accurate assessment and reaction to emergency conditions, possibly involving life-threatening situations.
- Contact On-Call staff to respond to abnormal or emergency situations.
- Direct all switching procedures.
- Directly answer specific customer inquiries and concerns during business and non-business hours.
- Review the electrical & gas distribution system with crews and Supervisors for work protection requests.
- Prioritize and, if necessary, reschedule workload as conditions change.
- Provide work and equipment protection for both emergency and non-emergency conditions, using either electronic or manual “hard copy” documents.
- Create and check all “Orders to Operate” and “Work Protection” documents and issue to the proper work groups, be it Utilities Kingston personnel or a contracting group for both emergency and non-emergency conditions.
- Ensure field crew and System Operations compliance with the “Utility Work Protection Code”.
- Monitor and correct loading trends to respect equipment ratings and limits.
- Maintain a record log of System Office activities.
- Communicate with Engineering, and field personnel to maintain current and accurate Operating maps and drawings.
- Communicate directly with Hydro One, Electrical Safety Authority, and the Trans Canada (TC Energy) as required by industry regulation and protocol.
- Train System Office personnel and others as required.
- Assist with queries from other divisions inside or outside of the organization
- Communicate distribution system equipment deficiencies appropriately to initiate and expedite repairs.
- Reporting/communication of system events and interruptions accordingly (written and/or verbally).
- Communicate “System Outage Updates” to Utilities Kingston management, Communications personnel, Police, and Fire Department representatives.
- Issue and record temporary nomenclature in the electrical & gas systems and maintain accurate records.
- Respond accordingly to any alarms coming in on the SCADA system, or other supervisory systems.
- Identify interruption areas and update internal and customer notification systems including the Utilities Kingston website Outage Map. Update and maintain system contingency plans.
- Performs other related duties as required.

Education, Certification and