Principal Power Systems Engineer
Academic Background
B.S., Electrical and Electronic Engineering, California State University, Sacramento, 2013.
Professional Experience
Derick Van Vliet is an accomplished engineering professional with a strong technical background and an understanding of the electric utility industry. Mr. Van Vliet joined Utility System Efficiencies (USE) as a Senior Power Systems Engineer in February 2018 and brings to USE a unique blend of electric utility industry expertise and knowledge including experience in transmission system planning, transmission system operations, transmission system protection, and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) reliability standards compliance. At USE, Mr. Van Vliet has performed several generator and transmission interconnection studies, most of which required scoping the study, building and reviewing the base case/ generator model, performing power flow and transient stability analysis, studying the system under multiple conditions for reliability, and preparing a report. The types of studies performed include Interconnection Feasibility and Interconnection System Impact Studies in the WECC. Mr. Van Vliet has worked with several utilities and generation developers throughout WECC performing various types of analyses focused on new generator interconnections and improved modeling of existing facilities.
Prior to joining USE, Mr. Van Vliet worked as a Senior Electrical Engineer at Turlock Irrigation District (TID), where he began his electric utility industry career in 2013. While employed by TID, Mr. Van Vliet performed a wide variety of transmission system planning studies and analyses. Mr. Van Vliet was responsible for performing TID’s annual 10-year transmission planning assessments and other associated studies to ensure the long-term reliable operation of the TID transmission system. Mr. Van Vliet represented TID as a potential affected system for several interconnection feasibility studies and served as the lead engineer for one such study, where he was responsible for both performing and coordinating study work amongst interested parties. Mr. Van Vliet performed seasonal studies, developed transmission system operating nomograms, evaluated the impact of generation and transmission element outages, and provided on-call engineering support in support of TID electric system operations. Mr. Van Vliet also generated and maintained evidence for several NERC and WECC reliability standards and was a participant in two successful WECC compliance audits during his time at TID.
Mr. Van Vliet has continuing education units obtained via GE Energy Consulting in EPCL Programming, Mechanics of Running Dynamic Simulations, and Analysis and Debugging of Dynamic Data.
