Welcome To Rockwood Energy Search - Find Energy Jobs, Solar Energy Jobs Recruiters

Rockwood Energy Search has specialized in dealing with energy jobs across the US for over five major evolutions in the energy business. As a permanent placement energy recruiter, we’ve adjusted to the changing energy business each time.

In the early 90’s, the power business in the US was deregulated, with electric utilities entering the power trading trading business.

This had followed the deregulation (FERC RULE 888) of the interstate gas pipelines.

By 1995, the options and futures products in energy trading markets had exploded.

In 2001, Enron went through a meltdown, after which, the energy derivative markets shrank.

After that, the natural gas market and related power markets boomed.

By 2010, we saw the emergence of the natural gas fracking business, plus the solar and wind business taking off.

Now the energy job market looks very little like the energy jobs market of the middle 90’s. What has now emerged is a new renewables energy jobs environment. 

As a permanent placement energy recruiter, Rockwood Energy Search responds to client needs in an energy jobs world that is changing rapidly. Our focus is now on distributed generation, which included solar and energy storage. This is a natural evolution of the energy efficiency jobs that we’ve worked on for many years.

Energy storage is taking the same path as solar. And the energy jobs are following that path. Initially, it’s been a combination of energy storage and solar, generally for utility-scale. Most electric utility RFP’s added energy storage as a requirement.

Now, there are stand-along energy storage installations, both behind-the-meter and front-of-the meters. -

Both require a more sophisticated energy professional, particularly a energy developer—a function that we as energy recruiters now specialize in. 

Not only does a developer have to consider the energy source and how it gets dispatched, but also the load. Another complicating factor is the different wholesale energy power market rules in each independent system operator.

Understanding the local utility price is another wrinkle. In New York state, there is retail energy pricing that looks more like the wholesale market.(VDER). So, developers of behind-the-meter projects must take this into account when analyzing the profitability of projects.

Candidates who have this combination of wholesale power markets experience, project development experience, and financial analysis skills are not common. In addition, companies are looking for specific experience with battery deployment.  

Energy storage operating experience is another vibrant energy recruiting area. After front-of-the-meter projects are complete, one has to operate them in a way to optimize their revenue.

Rockwood Energy Search has worked on battery-related searches since 2018. In 2019, we placed a number of candidates with this hybrid background.  

Our recruiting experience in the wholesale power markets of the past has helped us understand the required background for energy storage in a number of dimensions.

Distributed generation sites that are true microgrid sites that can operate in an island mode, separated from the grid, are also on the rise. They use a complicated microgrid controller. The design requirements can be complex.

So, complexity of pricing, project finance, and operations combine to raise the demand for specific energy jobs and the right candidates.