plant operator

supervisor

engineer

substation technician

planning engineer

Colorado Springs Utilities

Colorado Springs Utilities is a good company to work for with good pay and benefits, but be wary of the department you work for. The construction side, or Dirt Team, is a "Good Ole Boys" club. If you've been around for awhile and made the right connections, or have a friend or family on the Dirt Team, you get the better jobs, the promotions, and feeling of job security. If not, your supervisor will use you and abuse you, then make up some excuse to ship you to a different department or get rid of you all together. The company preaches a strong team atmosphere and a no tolerance harassment policy, but that means nothing when you work the construction side. Now on to the barricade department specifically. It's run by two guys who bicker and fight all day long, when one isn't there, the other will talk about them and undermine their authority. They both have favorites in the department and will look the other way when their favorites do wrong, for example harassing other employees and low brow name calling. Some of the older workers in the department are very helpful with training and if you have questions, but the younger ones stick to their little groups and don't like to help anybody else. Beware of the two employees who are the main supervisors favorites, they do what they want because they know they can. The main supervisor always brags about being on "an island", because the building that they are located in is away from upper management and they don't have the prying eyes of human resources on them. And when the "prying eyes" of upper management get put on them by an employee in their department, the two supervisors do everything in their power to make that persons day horrible and will try to make you quit your job and if that doesn't work they will fire you and make up lies to cover their tracks. All in all, CSU is a decent place to work, I recommend an office job, but the construction side has no real leadership in place and it is like the wild west. Apply at your own risk,

There are many dedicated, conscientious people here who are working hard to do the right thing. Most of these dedicated and conscientious people are NOT in management positions. 

The organization is rife with outdated technology, systems, and processes. HR and management practices are vindictive and draconian, and often jobs are posted with HR and management already having decided who will be hired. Advancement opportunities are primarily reserved for those who are related to or are engaging in inappropriate relationships with, or who can do favors for, the people at the top, and promotions are given as rewards for enforcing the toxic culture and doing management's dirty work. 

Management is openly hostile to and intimidated by their best employees. Bullying is the norm, as are "turf wars" between various departments and divisions.The officers and general managers spend most of their time alternatively currying favor with the CEO and looking for advantages over their peers. Decisions are made based on fear or on what advantage can be gained, not on what is best for the organization. Management is chaotic, lacking accountability, and no one is willing to step up and make the hard decisions.

Pay is decent as compared to other local government jobs (and some, especially in management, are tremendously overpaid), but for the rank and file pay is generally well below comparable positions in private sector companies. Benefits are good, and job security is high if you can tolerate the toxicity. Good people are leaving constantly, while many others who would like to leave stay in misery because they feel trapped by how the retirement savings programs are structured. Turnover is high, employee morale is critically low, and instead of addressing the causes of these issues management looks for scapegoats to blame.

Your stress levels will increase exponentially and your tolerance to the place will erode quickly. There is no opportunity to advance you will be treated simply as a number in a seat. Those who do advance are family members who seem to be promoted to positions that their previous family member held , officers are married to managers and applying for promotions is wasteful of your time. Simply put they are aware of who they would like in that position prior to posting and interviewing.  Management is terrible, accountability is terrible, the treatment of employees terrible. The company lacks honesty while those who lead lack even the skills of the lowest ranking team member while making  85,000 plus a year.  When they respond with employee driven surveys to refute this be sure to ask them the percentage of people who actually participate. Reference the incredibly high turn over rate then fact check that with those who are senior level who have less responsibility but are paid more.  It is a poorly managed public utility company with a soul crushing environment that hiring managers and interviewer’s may paint with bright colors and depictions of happiness. That painting is truly a falsehood and if you are unfortunate enough to be hired you will learn the truth of it within months of the completion of your training and probationary period. If you do take a job with this company swayed by what seems to be lucrative pay and benefits be aware that most often resign quickly having a back up and prospects for employment elsewhere is highly recommended.  

no matter how hard you work for these people ( its a clique ) if you don't brown nose you are not ever going anywhere .. the jobs are dead end and they always hire retired friends who receive PERA  they get all the good jobs that suddenly become temporary but last for years... nice work is always available for their friends..  the management is not trained in proper management techniques in fact they are all strategically placed in management positions so that they may draw the highest retirement from PERA  , theres many who had purchased retirement years and Ill be surprise if  theres a single one who actually worked 15 or 20 years ..if you question their treatment of you or turn their actions over to the filty dirty HR dept youll be even more sorry ..then they help your supervisor or manager  find ways to harrass you into quitting while at the same time trying to project a healthy work place thats full of upward advancement...unless kissing up during and after work hours apeals to you dont bother with this place its run by a good ole boy system that is never going to change until another utility comes and takes control ....

While a utility locator is a very important position, most other departments do not see it that way.  You are not treated with respect from other departments, however you do receive help most of the time from upper management. Training program does not teach you everything at first, you learn as you go, as there is so much information to learn. Benefits are great, as to be expected from a large company. They actually encourage you to take time off, as it can be very stressful work on occasions. There is a possibility of advancement, however, it is very difficult to get into other positions. Pay is good for a utility locator, considering the risks involved, meaning weather, construction areas, traffic and on occasion, angry homeowners. They give you all the tools you need for the work involved, including some work clothes and Boots. Quality of life at home is decent, with a sense of doing a good job throughout the day and work week. I would say the Pros outweigh the Cons on average. Overall , it is a great place to work at, but it is not without its faults, just like any job. If you like for the most part being you’re own boss, and can deal with inclement weather conditions, and other contributing factors, it is a great place to work at.

Many years as a loyal employee I have had truly been privileged to work with some of the best people in Colorado Springs! The employees are extremely intelligent and really value the rate payers they represent. With that being said, management is extremely vindictive, rude, dishonest. Rate payers need to be concerned for their safety, cost for services, and overall quality of the utility they own!!! Management from the Midwest and California do not have the rate payers best interest. Some of the most important groups (field service , gas and water construction) are being threatened daily by being forced to do a job that puts rate payers safety at risk!  Hearing numerous concerns about the manager in field service which has caused overwhelming damage to customers, this individual does not want to hear ideas from the people she is over, around , or knows. HR has no concern for employees, I truly hope the news steps in and helps all the employees and rate payers 

Great place to gain experience as well as great people to work with. As is the case with a lot of places, management is out of touch with reality. Many of the drivers for them is for their own good. There is no accountability for management. Communication is handled through emails and all hands meetings. There are some who try to know employees, however, it's not very authentic. They also need to practice what they preach. However, I know a lot of places suffer from this. While the hiring process is cumbersome, they typically already know who they are going to hire. Many of us could actually determine who would get the job in about 90% of the cases. Work/life balance is very good, but the job gets boring fast and there's not many opportunities to gain new experiences and knowledge. If your happy with doing the same thing day in and day out for years on end, this would be a good job for you. Not that that's bad, but not for everyone either. If your a go-getter, you won't like it. If not, it may be for you.

It is very difficult to get into this company because it is very competitive. This company pays great but also expects great results which is fair. Management only demands that the job be done to the standard and training that is provided. Anyone who feels they can cut corners for the sake of getting work completed will not make it here. The job demands are complicated to meet but that is because of industry regulation, the company provides all the tools, guidance, and training for success. The individual makes the choice whether to be part of the solution or part of the problem.  

As an engineering technical support at CSU, I was responsible for achieving specific learning objectives, completing various company training regimes, and providing engineering support to the engineering staff. Typically, operations were smooth and boring, however whenever there was a problem, which was rare, things heated up quickly, and the staff worked towards a solution as rapidly as possible.

The management and team treated each other like family. Every member of the staff was an expert in his or her field and worked diligently and professionally to keep the plant running smoothly. 

The best part of the job was solving the mystery behind an anomaly in he plant's operation. But, when everything was working as it should, it was a very boring job.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It is a city owned enterprise so job security is rock solid.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
High turn over in IT coupled with lack of productivity makes it difficult  to get work done.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Many employees are just there putting oin there time for retirement. Leadership in IT is bad, lacks the experience to move the organization forward from their current state.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Trying to lead with no sense of direction from upper leadership. Unable to complete projects due to lack of cooperation from cyber and lack of resources from supporting network staff.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Plant operator 1 salary reported	$30.98 per hour
Supervisor 3 salaries reported	$116,667 per year
Engineer 3 salaries reported	$162,165 per year
Substation technician 1 salary reported	$54.11 per hour
Planning engineer 2 salaries reported	$137,000 per year

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