“Plan the substation outage” is an outage planner job simulation on FinderK.
You work at Northvale Electricity Networks, an original fictional company, and complete 3 assignments in about 60 minutes.
It is for anyone who wants to practice outage planner work. No previous work experience is required.
Role
Outage planner
Industry
Energy and utilities
Level
Intermediate
Time
About 60 minutes, 3 assignments
Access
Included in Plus
Created by
FinderK
A failing transformer must be swapped by crane before winter, with 2,168 customers kept on supply through a neighbouring feeder that can carry only so much. Find a window the load allows, look after the people who depend on medical equipment, and replan when a pre-check cuts the backfeed.
Read the full brief
You are an outage planner at an electricity network company. A 1979 transformer must be lifted out and replaced in a six hour daylight window, while a neighbouring feeder carries the load up to 4.2 megawatts. You read the demand profiles, choose the window, plan notices and personal contact for customers on home oxygen and dialysis, and book the work. Then a pre-check finds a defect that cuts the backfeed, and you must decide between a generator, a different time or interrupting customers. Automated checks confirm your figures and saved work; your judgement is reviewed against the standard for the role.
What is Northvale Electricity Networks?
Northvale Electricity Networks is a fictional electricity distribution company. This case is the planned replacement of a failing transformer at Fenwick Road substation, which supplies 2,168 customers, including seven who depend on electrical medical equipment. It runs from Monday 5 to Thursday 22 October 2026. The outage planner chooses the window, books the work and may hire a generator up to 10,000 pounds; any planned customer interruption beyond switching needs the outage planning manager.
Who do you play?
You are the outage planner in the Network outage planning team.
You choose planned outage windows within the planned outage rules, book them and may hire a mobile generator up to 10,000 pounds. Morven Lockhart approves anything above that and any planned customer interruption beyond switching. Network control does switching; the field team decides on site safety; customer service supports priority register customers.
These coworkers are fictional. They may make mistakes, so compare their suggestions with the evidence.
Frequently asked questions
How long does “Plan the substation outage” take?
About 60 minutes, across 3 assignments. When the time is up, you get 10 minutes to round up and submit. Pausing stops the clock.
Is “Plan the substation outage” free?
No. It is included in FinderK Plus. With a free account you can also do it without grading.
Do I need outage planner experience?
No. No previous work experience is required. The listed level is intermediate.
What do I get when I finish?
You get feedback on each assignment you submit. Completing all required assignments earns a completion certificate. It records participation and is not professional accreditation.
Is Northvale Electricity Networks a real company?
No. Northvale Electricity Networks is an original fictional company made for practice. Its coworkers may make mistakes, so check their suggestions against the evidence.
Work out a food maker's electricity emissions for the annual report, both ways, with a site sold and a site bought during the year. Then stop marketing overclaiming renewable power, and restate the figure honestly when the certificates come in short.
Skills: Apply a reporting boundary to sites bought and sold; Calculate location-based and market-based Scope 2; Write a disclosure that claims only what the evidence supports; Restate a figure openly when evidence changes; Answer an assurance provider with evidence
Facilities helpdesk coordinator at Brightstone Property Services
About 50 minutes. Included in Plus.
Twelve requests after a wet weekend: a trapped person, a leak onto a desk, a stuck fire exit, cold offices and a few things that are not yours to fix. Triage them, get approval where you need it, and tell tenants the truth about who pays.
Skills: Prioritise building faults by risk and service level; Decide responsibility using lease clauses; Act on safety first and get approval for spending; Say no to a tenant politely and with the clause
Twelve repair requests, a cold snap from Wednesday and a contractor who will soon be fully booked. Triage them under the policy, answer a resident who has been told the wrong thing, and get a decision on a roof above your limit.
Skills: Triage repairs by risk to the household under a policy; Keep repairs separate from rent arrears; Write to a resident honestly about a repeat problem; Request approval with options, costs and interim safety
A licensing partner wants its co-branded cereal bar pack approved before a printer's slot. The logo is too small, the partner's logo too big, the bar is short of fibre for its high fibre claim and short of granola for its made with claim. Review it, decide, and hold the claims when the launch date is used as pressure.
Skills: Review artwork against brand rules and a licence; Separate must fix items from advice; Check claims against evidence and a claims register; Give a partner clear, usable feedback under time pressure; Hold brand and legal standards against commercial pressure