lead analyst

wind turbine technician

lead engineer

program manager

meter reader

Avangrid

While the subsidiary itself is relatively new, the parent company Iberdrola is nearly a decade into the process of trying to form a cohesive unit out of NYSEG and Rochester Gas & Electric that will effectively leverage anything approaching whatever they were planning when they made the acquisitions. Additionally the relatively recent acquisition of United Illuminating and attempts to standardize even core policy like Switching and Tagging are not going well either.

NYSEG and RG&E are still being run as unilaterally-controlled fiefdoms with mid-level managers awkwardly fighting "the man" and pushing back on the business unit managers they see as corporate shills at every turn. As a result, there is no clear indication of what principles or philosophies underpin any of the day-to-day processes that impact front-line employees.

After spending over a decade doing training and compliance consulting for utilities across North American and internationally, I can safely say this company has the worst culture I have ever experienced hands down.

There are some great people that work here, but there are also a lot of employees that you would expect to find at a company that values conflict-aversion and a total lack of accountability. The most talented individuals (if they are still here) are "checked-out" and largely stay under the radar to pursue work that actually matters when it can be found. Most individuals are just competent role-players that have topped out at simply administering the current work environment until exceptions to "how we've always done things" crop up. Then the work itself is either reverse-engineered to fit into existing business processes or (if you are lucky) one of the talented folks takes an interest in the issue and gets engaged just long enough to collaborate cross-functionally on a sensible solution. Even still, the best you can do is informally start doing the work that way (since there is no accountability, no one will question it unless something goes wrong, at which point you will be blamed in entirety). Formal adoption of anything new by communicating, training and enforcing consistency across shifts is simply not something this company does. Ever.

AVANGRID is a disorganized company, no question about it. With the combination of multiple smaller operating companies across the North East, they have failed to integrate properly, it is tough to deal with even the simplest tasks, like paying invoices... Many directives are driven by Spanish management, who think that their way is the best way and the US workers need to embrace 'their culture' to make for a better company... Europe and the USA are two very different places, and for many reasons. "Global Standards" for seating, more like a call center workspace vs. engineering workspace (IE. 4' of table space, one small cabinet, even for management up to directors level) makes the work environment very difficult. The expectation for non-union employees to work storm events (frequently involving weekend travel and without compensation) is burdensome as well. It flies in the face of their touted "work-life balance" ploy. An over-reliance on contractors makes this situation even more frustrating, as the company has a defined goal to have 80% of the workforce contractors by 2020. Recently the HR was outsourced, so even simple tasks such as getting information on Tuition Reimbursement is difficult. Overall, the compensation and benefits are good for the area in which we live, but money is not everything... Middle management is generally ill prepared for basic function and senior management is shareholder-centric. If you care only about a paycheck and can deal with extreme mediocrity from those around you, you may be successful here. If you want to succeed, advance, make an impact and get some personal satisfaction out of the work you do, it might not be the place for you.

I'm not even sure where to begin. 

The computer system that is used is out-dated, not user friendly, confusing, and glitchy. There is a million steps just to perform a single function or to provide the customer with just a single piece of information and very slow loading.

The training is 4 weeks however it is very fast paced and there is a lot of reading, not much hands on or mock scenarios. If you don't feel the training is adequate and bring it to the attention of your supervisor, you're basically told, oh well. They won't provide you with further time to learn the material or ask questions just move you directly to customer phone calls. 

There is absolutely no such thing as "work life balance" they control when you take your breaks and lunches. You can't take a lunch early, for example, if you need to make a quick errand, they will make you use sick time and then still take an (unpaid) regularly scheduled lunch. Once or twice a year there are "shift bids" so the shift you are hired for, there's no guarantee you will stay on that shift. It goes by seniority so you will most likely receive the shift you least likely want. 

The customers who call in scream at you, berate you, and otherwise verbally abuse you and you are expected to try to de-escalate them to provide them with customer service. Meanwhile their bills are being messed up by the independent vendor reps who do not know what they're doing or the system fails to generate bills for various reasons.

It is big brother, they monitor your calls and can see what you do on your computer in real time. You are graded on call times and quality.

After several M&As, ended up working for this company. Since the most recent M&A, the only decent jobs are at company HQ in CT, even though its subsidiaries work in at least a couple dozen states across the US. The CT management fires very good people for no good reason, and hires people who know nothing about the industry to take their place. 

Corporate does not seem interested in what the subsidiaries do, which is too bad, because they all provide an essential service - either electricity or gas - to their customers. Corporate likes to squeeze as much as they can out of every employee for the minimum amount of money spent. 

The company gets so bogged down in the weeds of "processes" that it is nearly impossible to actually accomplish anything (despite regular 60+ hour weeks). The company's claims about work-life balance are a joke. It is so understaffed that in some areas, no one has been allowed to take any time off for months. Meanwhile, the people over at "big" corporate parent across the ocean are taking all of August off for "holiday."

Very diverse culture (one of this company's only attributes). Pay is okay, not great, and there are decent benefits. Vacation time is fairly allocated, yet many people, particularly long-time employees, end up not being able to take their allotment due to workload and you are very limited in what you can carry over year to year. 

Pray you don't get seriously ill as sick time is very limited and also cannot be carried over.

Awesome position at an amazing site with an incredible company! The Avangrid vision is truly altruistic and they empower their people more than any other company I’ve worked for! A commitment to a responsible and sustainable future without sacrificing the reliability and robustness of our current electric generation capacity. Ambition and growth are nurtured and encouraged! Tuition assistance, outstanding medical/dental, and a retirement program that cannot be beat! The only drawback is a small insignificant group of workers who’ve been so insulated from the industry and the real world they have no clue how good they have it. These misanthropes blame their misery and impotence on anyone and anything except themselves. Soon enough these malcontents will be gone and there will be nothing but good people, positivity, and vibes of magnanimity for all. Good riddance and let the good times roll! 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The fact that the company has changed the policy of remote working to be more flexible when needed

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The fact that all projects are never completed correctly the first time. Management constantly complains that projects are not being done in a required timeframe or being delivered within budget but at the same time will only listen to outside reviews for corrections

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture is extremely laid back, almost to the point of not even a professional setting

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
4-5 hours wasted talking about the same issues in meetings that are either not allowed to be addressed or corporate underfunding or questioning the needs of a project to go forward then coming up with a way to include it in audits to prove to management that it is. The next 3-4 hours al basically showing auditors where the issues are that need to be addressed and then making sure that findings include them

Good pay and benefits. Most people that have been there for a couple years are on cruise control because promotions never happen. If a promotion does happen, it’s a baby bump (2-4% pay increase) with an insane increase in responsibilities. The offices besides headquarters are from the 1960s / 1970s. So outdated which matches their RTO policy. CEO needs to get off his high horse and reimplement hybrid work model to match Eversource and other utilities in the area. Exodus of qualified individuals already occurring to those companies. Most coworkers are exploring other opportunities and leave at their first offer. 

Outside of this, starting here the job was fantastic for the first year and a half. So much flexibility around being at the office. Conversations in person were more meaningful and days in the office were appreciated and purposeful. Now, it’s a grim wasteland filled with water cooler talk and more time spent doing anything but work. 

My suggestion to management would be to reintroduce the hybrid work module and work on making promotions more meaningful to the employee. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part in NYSEG (Avangrid) is being in a union in some ways or being able to work your way up in the company 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Knowing the full extent of the job or what the company will give you to help you in your duties of the job. Then not knowing what you can do to make you advance quickly in the process of getting up in the company or what sick or vacation or PTO you have for the job or benefits they don’t help to much with that in certain ways

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
I’d say it pretty good depending on which department you go in because come departments (linemen) not all of them though think they walk on water

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It’s get to work load a route if it’s not loaded by the boss look at what the route in tails for the day because a route is suppose to be done in a day for meter reading. Then do tailboard of things that need to be talked about then get your keys and off for the day

My day consists of answering phones in a call center environment. I deal with contractors/builders/electricians who need new services installed as well as upgrading existing services. I process payments, handle collection activities, process reconnects, etc. I utilize SAP for all my transactions as well as Lotus Notes and Excel. I have learned so much about utilities and electricity, equipment & how things work. It's really very interesting. I'd like to move up here, but there isn't much incentive here, you don't get merit raises, you only get cost of living every year. Opportunities to move up are few & far between, it goes by seniority not skill level or competence.
The hardest part of this job is the customer base. They do not like NYSEG and I get personally threatened on a daily basis, and that gets a little nerve wracking. I enjoy my job if I can concentrate on doing my work as a new installation rep, when I get into the billing, etc that's when the customers get nasty.

•	Promoted the use of natural gas to residential and small commercial customers through the implementation of direct sales techniques and marketing programs.  
•	Coordinated and developed marketing / sales strategies in order to extend natural gas service to a 32 unit mobile home park resulting in the successful conversion of all 32 units with each unit netting an annual revenue of $800.00
•	Developed a five-year gas marketing / sales forecast for the Elmira, New York area with a customer base of 30,000.  This also required quarterly forecast reports to ensure accuracy.
•	Facilitated American Gas Association sanctioned heating and cooling sales training seminar for trade contractors in order to promote the use of natural gas.

The management style was a bit conservative, but, very fair and was fortunate to have supervisors that allowed me to manage my accounts with little assistance.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Lead analyst 42 salaries reported	$105,435 per year
Wind turbine technician 83 salaries reported	$32.69 per hour
Lead engineer 64 salaries reported	$128,527 per year
Program manager 41 salaries reported	$130,685 per year
Meter reader 10 salaries reported	$27.38 per hour

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