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Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)

4.4
  • #2 in Energy & utilities
  • 500 - 1,000 employees

Madison Pigliardo

Make the most of opportunities to gain work experience. My biggest regret as a student is not having completed vacation or internship work. This would have helped me sooner understand the right type of job for me.

What's your job about?

AEMO is responsible for securely and reliably operating the electricity and gas systems and markets across Australia, including the national electricity market (NEM) on the east coast of Australia, and the wholesale electricity market (WEM) in Western Australia. Operating these systems involves managing the real-time supply and demand balance, voltage and frequency, and emergencies, as well as planning and forecasting for an efficient system of the future. AEMO’s energy markets allow energy and other energy-related services to be bought and sold.

During my two and a half years as a graduate at AEMO I have worked in a new team every nine months. This has given me the opportunity to understand different aspects of the electricity network and market, and experience a variety of AEMO teams. Australia is experiencing one of the fastest energy transitions in the world and my current team has the exciting job of developing the roadmap which will guide the NEM in its transition towards several new operating conditions within the next 10 years. My current day to day job largely consists of working collaboratively and creatively with my team to unpack the challenges and opportunities towards reaching new operating conditions which include the integration of high levels of renewable energy generation, such as wind and solar, and large amounts of rooftop solar panels. In upcoming months I will be engaging daily with key stakeholders and experts from the energy industry to help guide this transition effectively.

What's your background?

I am from Perth and completed my studies at the University of Western Australia (UWA). I completed a bachelor’s degree with a first major in Economics and second major in Politics and International Relations. During the third year of my studies, I was lucky enough to complete a semester abroad at the University of Manchester in the UK. Whilst over there I was able to study some interesting topics relating to both economics and politics in Europe. I of course also made the most of the opportunity to travel and made sure to fit in plenty of weekend trips throughout the UK and Europe!

In my final year at UWA I completed my honours thesis on the impact of residential solar panels on electricity cost recovery in the south-west integrated system (SWIS) in Western Australia. My honours year was stressful and challenging but it was worth it. To complete data analysis for my thesis, I used AEMO market data, and this ultimately led me down the path of discovering the work that AEMO does and applying for their graduate program. Luckily, I was successful and started working at AEMO in 2019. Since then, I have been able to work for four different teams spanning both operations and markets, and across Western Australia and the east coast, and have worked for both project and business-as-usual teams.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Yes! Even though AEMO is typically viewed as an organisation with plenty of engineers, every team I have worked in has been full of people with diverse education and work backgrounds. While the work I do is well suited to anyone who has good analytical, data, communication and writing skills, having a keen interest to learn is the most important. When I joined AEMO I knew little about energy, but my willingness to learn meant I soon picked it up, and even today I find I am always learning new things about Australia’s energy networks.

What's the coolest thing about your job?

The coolest thing about my job is getting to work at the forefront of the energy transition and develop solutions and roadmaps for problems which no one else has yet solved. I love being able to have these in depth and sometimes challenging discussions with my team and other energy experts who really know their stuff!

What are the limitations of your job?

The limitations of my job have varied in each team I have been in. What is common is that I often need to seek advice from others with more experience and expertise rather than being able to answer some questions on my own. While this can be frustrating, I know that with time my knowledge will deepen.

I have worked from Perth for multiple east-coast based teams and working remotely and from a different time zone can sometimes be isolating. It is important that I put effort into still getting to know my colleagues on a personal basis.

3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...

  1. Make the most of opportunities to gain work experience. My biggest regret as a student is not having completed vacation or internship work. This would have helped me sooner understand the right type of job for me.
  2. Travel and explore as much as possible. One of the highlights of my time as a student was my experience studying abroad where made some lifelong friends.
  3. Keep pushing and studying hard! I always found university so much more satisfying when I knew I had pushed myself to do my absolute best.