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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Energy Market Analyst

💰 $95,000 - $175,000

AnalysisEnergyData ScienceFinanceTrading

🎯 Role Definition

As an Energy Market Analyst, you will be the go-to expert on market dynamics, price movements, and regulatory landscapes. You will immerse yourself in vast datasets, developing sophisticated models to forecast supply, demand, and pricing across various energy commodities and ISO/RTO regions. Your analysis will directly inform our trading strategies, asset valuation, and long-term investment decisions. This position requires a proactive individual who can thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment, delivering clear and concise intelligence to traders, portfolio managers, and executive leadership.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Data Analyst
  • Quantitative Analyst
  • Research Assistant
  • Recent Graduate (Economics, Engineering, Finance)

Advancement To:

  • Senior Energy Market Analyst
  • Trading Manager or Portfolio Manager
  • Director of Market Analytics
  • Head of Research

Lateral Moves:

  • Commodity Trader
  • Risk Analyst
  • Data Scientist (Energy Focus)
  • Origination / Business Development Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop, maintain, and enhance proprietary quantitative models to forecast short-term and long-term electricity prices, demand, and generation stack behavior.
  • Conduct in-depth fundamental analysis of North American power markets (e.g., PJM, ERCOT, MISO, CAISO), including supply/demand balances, transmission congestion, and ancillary services.
  • Monitor and analyze real-time market data, weather patterns, and power grid conditions to identify trading opportunities and mitigate risks.
  • Prepare and deliver comprehensive market analysis reports, presentations, and dashboards for the trading desk, risk management, and senior leadership.
  • Evaluate the economic viability and performance of generation assets, including thermal, renewable (wind/solar), and energy storage projects.
  • Track and interpret regulatory proceedings, market rule changes, and policy developments at FERC, NERC, and ISO/RTO levels, assessing their potential impact on market prices and asset values.
  • Utilize advanced statistical, econometric, and machine learning techniques to analyze large, complex datasets and uncover predictive market signals.
  • Collaborate closely with traders to develop, validate, and back-test new trading strategies based on fundamental market analysis and quantitative research.
  • Perform rigorous scenario and sensitivity analysis to stress-test market forecasts and understand the impact of high-impact, low-probability events.
  • Build and manage extensive databases of energy market information, including historical prices, load data, generation outages, and fuel costs, ensuring data integrity and accessibility.
  • Create detailed financial and dispatch models to support the valuation of power purchase agreements (PPAs) and other complex energy-related contracts.
  • Analyze natural gas market fundamentals, including production, storage, and transportation, and quantify their influence on regional power prices.
  • Publish daily, weekly, and monthly market commentary that synthesizes complex information into actionable insights for internal stakeholders.
  • Support the origination and business development teams by providing market intelligence and valuation analysis for potential acquisitions and greenfield projects.
  • Investigate and explain historical market outcomes and the performance of trading strategies through detailed post-event and profit-and-loss (P&L) attribution analysis.
  • Interface with external data providers and industry consultants to source new datasets and stay abreast of third-party market views and emerging technologies.
  • Develop custom analytical tools and data visualizations using Python, R, and BI platforms (Tableau/Power BI) to improve workflow efficiency and clarity of insights.
  • Monitor competitor activities and strategic positioning within key markets to inform our own competitive strategy and market approach.
  • Analyze the long-term impacts of renewable energy penetration, energy storage deployment, and transport/heating electrification on grid reliability and price formation.
  • Present complex analytical findings and strategic recommendations in a clear and concise manner to both technical and non-technical audiences, including executive committees.
  • Assess transmission system topology and analyze congestion patterns to predict Locational Marginal Price (LMP) spreads and associated basis risk.
  • Contribute to the development of long-term capital allocation strategies by providing foundational price forecasts and comprehensive market outlooks.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis from various business units.
  • Contribute to the organization's broader data strategy, architecture, and technology roadmap.
  • Collaborate with IT and data engineering teams to translate analytical needs into robust data pipeline and engineering requirements.
  • Participate actively in sprint planning, daily stand-ups, and other agile ceremonies within the analytics team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proficiency in programming languages, particularly Python (with libraries like Pandas, NumPy, Scikit-learn) and/or R for data manipulation and statistical analysis.
  • Advanced SQL skills for querying and managing large relational databases and time-series data stores.
  • Expertise in Microsoft Excel, including power functions and VBA, for financial modeling and ad-hoc data analysis.
  • Experience with data visualization tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or programmatic libraries like Plotly/Dash.
  • Strong background in statistical analysis, econometrics, and time-series forecasting methodologies.
  • Deep knowledge of one or more North American ISO/RTO electricity markets (e.g., ERCOT, PJM, MISO, CAISO, SPP, NYISO).
  • Familiarity with energy-specific data platforms and software (e.g., Yes Energy, Genscape, S&P Global Platts, Aurora, PROMOD).
  • Experience in building and running production-level dispatch models or power flow simulations is a significant plus.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional analytical and quantitative problem-solving skills with a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail.
  • Superior written and verbal communication skills, with a proven ability to articulate complex concepts to diverse audiences.
  • Ability to work effectively under pressure and manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, deadline-driven trading environment.
  • Inherent curiosity and a proactive mindset toward identifying problems, uncovering trends, and pursuing opportunities.
  • Strong collaborative spirit and interpersonal skills, with an ability to work effectively within a cross-functional team.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's Degree

Preferred Education:

  • Master's Degree or Ph.D.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Engineering (Electrical, Mechanical, Industrial)
  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Data Science or Computer Science

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2-7 years of relevant experience in energy market analysis, commodity trading, or a related quantitative role.

Preferred:

  • Direct experience analyzing physical power markets, Financial Transmission Rights (FTRs/CRRs), or ancillary services within an ISO/RTO. Experience on a trading floor or with a utility, Independent Power Producer (IPP), or hedge fund is highly desirable.
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