2021 Internship Opportunities with Bonneville Power Administration

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Despite all of the challenges from COVID this year, the Bonneville Power Administration in Portland, OR, is hiring up to four interns in 2021 in our Power Services Division, as part of the federal government’s Pathways Program.

They are planning to hire two interns in Operations Research Analyst fields (both current students and recent graduates), and two recently graduated Public Utilities Specialists.

The Power Services Division manages the energy planning and marketing, economic analysis, energy efficiency planning, and water and weather forecasting for the Federal Columbia River Power System. Although there are many functions that go into planning and operating the hydropower system here in the Pacific Northwest, BPA has a common need for students and recent graduates who excel at researching and processing physical and econometric data, making sense out of it, communicating effectively both verbally and in writing, and helping them operate at the most cost-effective manner possible while meeting all of their statutory obligations.

Applicants will have to follow the instructions in the Vacancy Announcement very carefully, especially the requirements to include transcripts and making sure resumes cover all of the information requested in the announcement. Applications must be submitted by midnight on January 4th.

Learn more about all the intern positions by continuing to read.

  • Learn more about the Operations Research Analyst (Student Intern) position and how to apply here.
    • Current students who are a year or two away from graduation may apply for the student internships at the GS-4 or GS-5 level (for undergrads) or the GS-7 level (for graduate students). These students will work over the summer of 2021, and probably into 2022 on either a part time basis or over a second summer. If they complete 640 hours of work with us and perform very well during their internship, they can become permanent BPA employees upon graduation, provided we have a permanent position available.
  • Learn more about the Operations Research Analyst (Recent Graduates) position and how to apply here.
  • Learn more about the Public Utilities Specialist (Recent Graduates) position and how to apply here.
    • For those who are graduating this month or this coming spring, graduated within the past two years, or graduated and then served in the military within the past five years, the interns will be hired as Recent Graduates at the GS-7 or GS-9 level. The intern program for recent grads is slightly different in that selectees will work full-time for one full year. Like student interns, though, if they complete the full year and perform very well during that time, they can also become permanent BPA employees without further competition.

If you have any questions, their HR lead for student interns, Amanda Wylie, is an excellent resource for those seeking information on how to apply (adwylie@bpa.gov). There is are also several excellent YouTube videos available that review the steps on how to apply for Federal positions. The main one is here.