John Arcona reflects on his experience as a Voltus intern.
Nearly 9 months ago, I started my internship at Voltus as a junior in college with almost no idea what I wanted to do professionally. I only knew that startups were generally appealing to me and that I wanted to work alongside passionate people to make the world a better place. As idealistic as it sounds, I found all of that and then some over these last few months at Voltus.
Voltus’s mission is beautifully simple and incredibly effective – bringing cash to customers with operational flexibility through innovative demand response programs. The inevitable side effects are balancing the grid, increasing energy reliability while reducing prices, and eliminating emissions from dirty peaking power plants. I’ve seen Voltus help keep the lights on in Alberta during a dangerous cold snap and in California during a historic heatwave. I’ve helped enroll customers big and small in programs all across the country, putting much-needed cash back into local economies and even helping save jobs during a global pandemic. Voltus as a company truly embodies the values that it preaches: bright, gritty, and good.
The personal impact of my time at Voltus is unlike any job I have ever held. I have had the privilege and the opportunity to master a new programming language, design and automate internal processes, practice valuable data management and analysis skills, and learn how to communicate and present my ideas with confidence. I’ve challenged myself and been pushed by my colleagues to work hard, look at problems in different ways, and develop creative solutions. Voltus has given me all the tools I need to be a successful professional in any field, all while working on my own time, traveling, and benefitting from the support of the greatest team I have ever worked with.
It was an easy decision to skip a semester of online classes in order to continue my internship at Voltus. It was even easier to keep working my hardest at Voltus when my planned summer internship was cancelled. Nine months later, I am not so uncertain about what kind of work I want to do and what kind of company I want to work for, and I am so grateful for the chance to be a Voltan.
