Advanced Energy Welcomes Kellie McKiernan as an Administrative Assistant

Advanced Energy is excited to welcome Kellie McKiernan as an administrative assistant. Kellie first joined the company in July as a temporary employee and accepted a permanent role in October.

Kellie was born and raised in California and moved to North Carolina just a few years ago. She’s always had an interest in natural resources and went on to study geography at California State University, Stanislaus. Once in North Carolina, she enrolled in NC State University, where she researched natural resources with an emphasis on soil and water.

Kellie got into the administrative field after her time at NC State. She worked for a startup in the fitness industry, beginning as a customer service specialist and advancing up to an executive assistant. She liked the variety of tasks and ever-changing list of priorities that came with administrative responsibilities.

When she was connected with Advanced Energy, Kellie had a good feeling right away. The position’s focus on renewable energy, particularly solar, aligned with her interests and complemented some of her prior experience with water and hydropower while in school. What motivated her to stay were the people and culture of the organization.

As an administrative assistant, Kellie manages the day-to-day duties for our renewables commissioning program. She communicates with solar developers and makes sure that site visits run smoothly. She is also building out the admin processes for two programs that are getting underway. One will explore transmission interconnection (in contrast to distribution interconnection, which our existing program has centered on), and the other will assess previously uninspected renewable facilities that were connected to the grid before 2017.

When she isn’t working, Kellie’s two poodles keep her busy. She also enjoys reading.

As she is still new to the industry, Kellie is eager to keep learning and supporting Advanced Energy, and the renewables and admin teams are excited to have her help.