CAISO Interns gain invaluable professional experience and mentorship
For the summer of 2026, the ISO hired interns from a wide range of educational and professional backgrounds to participate in a several months long internship program. These internships, which span a variety of disciplines, are an exceptional opportunity for participants to get hands-on experience in the energy industry.
Midway through the summer, the current team of interns reflected upon their experience at the ISO so far.
Professional Skills
This full-time internship experience helps to broadly develop the interns’ professional skills, and some are discovering new applications of those they already have.
Ava Carnahan, Enterprise Program Management Office
“I’ve already noticed in these five weeks of my internship that I’ve grown so much in terms of my professionalism and my ability to work within a team,” Carnahan said.
Dominic Rostami, Energy Management
“I would say I’ve learned more in the past two weeks that I’ve started than I feel like I have at any other job or class in my life,” Rostami said.
Michelle Han, Power Systems & Market Technology
“Computer science can be applied to a whole bunch of sectors these days, so being able to work on something as important and sustainable as the ISO is a rewarding way of applying the things I learned,” Han said.
Collaboration
Collaboration between different teams affords interns the opportunity to learn more about the ISO as a whole.
Apsara Adhikari, Real Time Operations
“I’m learning so many things, not only through my team, but with other teams and people,” Adhikari said.
Ashley McCullough, Power Systems and Market Technology
“[It’s] very open in the sense that if I have a question, even not being in person, it’s very easy to reach out to people and get in contact with them,” McCullough said.
Hands-On Experience
The internships offered by the ISO likewise afford participants a unique opportunity to engage with the industry hands-on and witness the tangible effects of their work.
Rose Jiang Resource Assessment and Planning
“I feel like the CAISO is definitely way more about application than all the theoretical knowledge that I’ve learned in school,” Jiang said.
William Rothman, Operations Training
“I had to read really deep into the regulation that we are basing the program around,” Rothman said. “I don’t read those kinds of documents closely that often, so it was interesting.”
Matthew Le, Legal Department
“It really helps to contextualize what you learn in class, because everything that’s going on is happening right now,” Le said.
Alexis Luong, Transmission Planning and Infrastructure Development
“I learn a lot of very high-level information in school, and then I get to apply it and see the actual, real-life work that people are doing,” Luong said.
Sahel Kandahari, Grid User Support
“What I’m learning here is very applicable to the real world, so it’s definitely a lot more interesting and engaging than some of the work that I do in school,” Kandahari said.
Ethan Henning, Market Validation and Quality Analysis
“As it stands, the power gird is already foundational; we can't imagine life without it,” Henning said. “Working at CAISO offers a unique opportunity to be at the intersection of market forces and the power grid.”
Mentorship
For interns who are getting first time experience with the energy industry or internships in general, staff at the ISO offer support and answer questions readily. Much of this is thanks to the ISO’s internal culture, which encourages teamwork and community amongst staff and their teams. Such a culture allows interns to form meaningful relationships with long-time ISO staff members.
William Lam, Market Settlement Production
“My favorite part of my internship has been the countless mentorship opportunities through daily interactions, meaningful projects, and one-on-ones,” Lam said.
Nitin Kowdle, Market Analysis
“It’s really cool to see that everyone’s willing to work together and everyone’s super friendly,” Kowdle said.
Cynthia Hu, Operations Planning North
“My team and I sit together at lunch and take walks during [our] breaks throughout the day, even when it’s really hot.” Hu said.
Community and Camaraderie
The number of interns this year lends itself to a sense of community and belonging amongst them.
Raghav Vasudevan, Market Business Rules & Post-Market Technology
“I think it’s nice to be in a place where there’s a lot more interns and we’re able to talk to each other and get to know each other,” Vasudevan said.
Elisa Booth, Market Design and Analysis
“[The people at CAISO] are brilliant, and it’s really, really cool to be learning from and exposed to incredibly intelligent, eloquent people who just bounce off each other and work together clearly so well,” Booth said. “It feels like I am learning so much just by being here each day.”
Having an active impact on the industry in real-time has been an exciting and challenging experience for the interns, who get to be a part of the ISO’s ongoing projects and shape its future.
Between learning from their mentors, their teams, and each other, interns at the California ISO are given a remarkable combination of community and professional education and experience.
