Smart people on the frontline, but the organization is a complete mess
Pros
PowerFlex has some very smart people working on the front lines, particularly on the analyst and engineering teams. If you are early in your career it is an excellent opportunity to learn a lot in a short time frame, you will be given a lot of responsibility fairly quickly. Overall PowerFlex has a good company culture. Most people are serious about the transition to sustainable energy and believe in the work they are doing. Good benefit and PTO package.
Cons
PowerFlex has some serious issues both on an organizational level, and on an individual worker level. The most obvious organizational level issue with PowerFlex is that they are floundering in a time where the rest of the renewable energy industry is experiencing unprecedented growth. In my 2 years at PowerFlex, the company fell 50%+ short of their quarterly revenue goal almost every quarter, and was extremely unprofitable. The focus and direction of the company was confusing to say the least. PowerFlex seemed extremely focused on EV charging and software expansion which ultimately is a very small % of the company’s revenue and the much larger solar side of the business always seemed to play second fiddle. Very basic functions like pricing a solar project seemed to require a monumental weeks-long effort. Pricing was a huge problem I noticed on my first day and 2 years later it still wasn’t fixed. This impacts every single solar project at the company, and is a huge bottle neck. PowerFlex has added head count specifically to address this problem but adding people to a fundamentally broken system does not improve the process. Quotes for solar projects still regularly came in way above market prices and caused friction with customers, jeopardizing and often losing deals. PowerFlex LOVES internal meetings, especially among the management team. Many simple processes like finalizing a solar quote requires several layers of management approval. However, managers often have their entire day blocked off with meetings literally from 9am - 5pm dragging this process out even further. Essential tools and programs are frequently broken. For example, when PowerFlex unveiled their new financial model, 50% of the people in the training session couldn’t even get the file to open. You will be handcuffed by malfunctioning tech, convoluted processes, constantly changing procedures and policies, and then be asked why your work is taking longer than expected. On the individual worker level the most obvious issue is compensation. PowerFlex pays way below the industry average. Even within the EDF parent company there are people working the same job making 20+% more money. There is minimal opportunity for advancement to increase your pay.
