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Job Description
Description
City of Palo Alto Utilities
The City of Palo Alto operates a full suite of municipal utility services, including electric, natural gas, wastewater collection, water, and fiber optics. Our organization is located in the heart of Silicon Valley and has a history of leading innovation on a local scale for positive global outcomes. Founded on the principles of delivering quality public services at an affordable rate for community members, the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) is award-winning for reliability, safety, environmental sustainability, workforce development, and infrastructure system improvements. Join an inspiring team for a rewarding career!
Career Opportunity
The Electric Meter Technician is responsible for the installation, maintenance, testing, and troubleshooting of electric meters in both residential and commercial settings. This role plays a critical part in ensuring accurate metering for billing and system monitoring, while supporting the utility's goals for safety, reliability, and customer satisfaction.
Technicians will perform a wide range of fieldwork, including new service installations, meter upgrades, removals, and exchanges. They will also respond to customer inquiries, identify tampering or irregular consumption patterns, and support the deployment and maintenance of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) systems.
The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, safety-conscious, and able to work independently in various field conditions. They should have experience with electric meter types, basic electrical troubleshooting, and interpreting utility standards and service orders.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate possesses the following experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities:
• 2+ years working for an electric utility
• Extensive electric metering experience
• Power Quality background
• Strong computer skills
• Confident and competent working in the field
• Ability to deal effectively and courteously with customers
• Ability to learn new software programs
• Ability to work well with others
• Journeyman electrician desirable
BENEFITS: Fantastic benefits package! To learn more, click here. (Download PDF reader).
COMPENSATION (SEIU): Comprehensive compensation plan. To learn more, click here
SCHEDULE: Monday thru Friday in-person
9/80 Schedule (every other Friday off)
Essential Duties
Essential and other important duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to the following:
• Install, replace, remove, and test electric meters (single-phase and poly-phase)
• Perform field diagnostics and repairs to ensure meter accuracy and functionality
• Support AMI deployment and troubleshooting activities
• Verify and document meter readings and usage discrepancies
• Investigate high-bill complaints, tampering, or unauthorized use
• Work safely around energized equipment (600 volts or less) and follow established safety protocols
• Use handheld or mobile devices to process work orders and record data
• Communicate effectively with customers and utility personnel
Full job description can be found here
Minimum Qualifications
Sufficient education, training and/or work experience to demonstrate possession of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities, which would typically be acquired through:- Equivalent to the completion of the twelfth grade and
- Completion of an accredited apprentice program
Supplemental Information
The City of Palo Alto is an Equal Opportunity Employer. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City will provide reasonable accommodation to qualified individuals with disabilities and encourages both prospective and current employees to discuss potential accommodations with the employer.
See our Benefits at a Glance Bookletfor more details.
Learn more about our Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs) between the City and its bargaining units, by clicking HERE.
Closing Date/Time: 10/22/2025 11:59 PM Pacific -
ABOUT THE COMPANY
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City of Palo Alto
Show moreThe Community
The birthplace of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, is a community of approximately 68,000 residents and nearly 100,000 jobs. Located on the mid-Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose, Palo Alto is recognized worldwide as a leader in cutting-edge technology, medicine, and green innovation. The community's treelined streets and historic buildings reflect its California heritage, and, at the same time, many world-class businesses maintain or started offices here, such as Stanford Health Care and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Amazon, Broadcom, Hewlett-Packard, Houzz, Rivian, SAP and SAP Ariba, Tesla, and Varian Medical Systems. Numerous start-ups are also at home in Palo Alto, arguably making it the start-up capital of the world. Stanford University is foundational to the history and prestige of Palo Alto, reflected in the community's dedication to lifelong learning. Stanford's cultural and educational offerings are integral to the vibrancy and charm of Palo Alto, while the City's exceptional K-12 school district ranks among the top public-school systems in the country. With more than 50% of adult residents holding a graduate degree or higher, Palo Alto is frequently listed as one of the most educated cities in the nation. Palo Alto boasts a genuine sense of community and an active citizenry with strong environmental values. Beautiful neighborhoods are complemented by vibrant commercial corridors and a bustling economy featuring premium shopping and dining options. Excellent healthcare facilities, performing arts, and diverse recreational opportunities are some of the community's incredibly desirable and cherished amenities. To learn more, visit https://www.paloalto.gov/Departments/City-Manager/Latest-NewsCity Government
Palo Alto is a full-service charter city with a council-manager form of government. The seven-member City Council is elected at large, and the City Council annually selects the Mayor and Vice Mayor from among its members. The Mayor and City Council appoint the City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk, and City Auditor. The City Manager is responsible for the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the City. Palo Alto is organized into 15 departments/offices with 1,093.10 authorized positions in FY 2025. There is also a FY 2025 capital budget of $316.2 million. Palo Alto owns and operates its own utilities, including electricity (carbon-neutral), gas, water, wastewater, and an expanding fiber network. This dynamic municipal environment ensures an ever-engaging platform for unique problem-solving and advances new initiatives, including sustainability, broadband, and effective service delivery. Community assets also include five libraries, 36 parks, five community centers, a museum and zoo, youth centers, a general aviation airport, an 18-hole golf course, a regional water treatment plant, and wildland open space preserves at the San Francisco Bay and in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains offering 41 miles of walking/biking trails in addition to its police, fire, and ambulance services. Palo Alto has long been a leader in sustainability, and the City's ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals are part of what sets it apart. Since the City's first Climate Protection Plan was passed in 2007, Palo Alto has set goals that exceed State and Federal targets. Today, the City's goal to reduce emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2030 (the "80x30" goal) and achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 guides sustainability efforts. An award-winning City, Palo Alto is recognized nationally as innovative and well-managed. City services and performance also receive impressive marks from community members in the Palo Alto Community Survey.
Many of those ratings put City programs and services in the highest percentiles among the hundreds of benchmark cities. Palo Alto makes decisions through comprehensive processes and proactively seeks to involve its extremely informed, educated, and engaged residents. Projects are naturally a cooperative effort among the City Council, Boards, Commissions, Committees, engaged residents, neighborhoods, businesses, property owners, and staff.
Join an Award Winning Team
Palo Alto is an award-winning City recognized nationwide as innovative and well-managed. Palo Alto is one of a small number of California cities with a AAA bond rating. Recently, Palo Alto became one of the most livable cities in the U.S. by Livability.com. It's the only city to receive the Platinum Beacon Award in sustainability best practices by California’s Institute for Local Government. We offer a variety of career paths that relate to building and improving communities. The City has fourteen departments employing 1,000 full-time staff. Police officers, fire fighters, paramedics, and building inspectors keep us safe. Engineers and public works staff build and re-build the physical infrastructure. City planners help envision and shape future community growth. Recreation, arts and library professionals enhance community life. Utilities provides electric, gas, water, sewer and other services. Internal services departments help manage, staff, and protect the City.
Want to learn more about our benefits? Learn more by reviewing our "Benefits at a Glance Booklet."
Contact Us
Phone: 650-329-2376
Email: Recruit@paloalto.gov
Location: City Hall, 1st Floor | 250 Hamilton Ave 94301 | View Map
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