Principal Power Systems Engineer
Academic Background
- M.S., Electrical Engineering, California State University, Sacramento 2008
- B.S., Electrical Engineering, University of California, Davis 2003
Professional Experience
Joseph Gillette has 20 years of experience performing power system studies in the electric utility industry. His expertise includes steady-state, voltage stability, and transient stability analyses for various entities across the Western Interconnection. He also has extensive experience demonstrating compliance with NERC reliability standards and has served as a subject matter expert for various Transmission Planner (TP) and Planning Coordinator (PC) NERC standards.
Mr. Gillette worked at Utility System Efficiencies, Inc. (USE) from 2010 to 2013 and from 2019 to the present. During his tenure at USE, he has contributed to numerous power system studies across the Western Interconnection, including a system impact study for a proposed 500-kV transmission project, annual planning assessments, interconnection studies, operating nomogram studies, and a major WECC three-phase rating process. These efforts involved steady-state, post-transient, transient stability, and reactive power margin analyses, demonstrating broad technical expertise across multiple study disciplines. He also developed custom tools and programs to automate and support power system studies.
Prior to returning to USE, Mr. Gillette worked at Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) from 2009 to 2010 and again from 2013 to 2019. In his final role at SMUD, he served as Grid Planning Department Manager, where he led a team of six transmission planning engineers responsible for developing a long-term reliable and cost-effective transmission plan. He was the inaugural Chair of the Planning Coordinator Committee of the Balancing Authority of Northern California, where he served as the subject matter expert for fourteen Transmission Planner and Planning Coordinator reliability standards representing SMUD, Modesto Irrigation District, the City of Redding, and the City of Roseville. Before becoming a manager at SMUD, Mr. Gillette performed technical studies supporting both regulatory compliance and enterprise objectives as a transmission planning engineer. His work included SMUD’s first NERC CIP-014 study, which later received a positive observation from WECC, as well as minimum generation studies and interconnection studies for generation and load projects.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Gillette worked as a transmission planner at Turlock Irrigation District. There, he conducted steady-state, voltage stability, and transient stability studies for both the Transmission Planning and Transmission Operations departments. He also played a key role in demonstrating compliance with then brand-new NERC reliability standards.
Mr. Gillette also worked as an Energy Specialist in the Electricity Analysis Office at the California Energy Commission. In that role, he performed production cost model studies of the Western Interconnection, evaluating the impacts of various scenarios and policy initiatives. He additionally developed software tools to support the collection and analysis of generation, transmission, and load data.
