Before Brandon McGee was directing one of the most sophisticated energy market operations centers on the East Coast, he was spinning records at weddings, bars, and corporate events up and down the Jersey Shore. As the house DJ at Ocean Drive in Sea Isle City, he learned something that has served him well ever since: read the room, stay in control, and never let the crowd \u2014 or the grid \u2014 feel the chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, Brandon is Director of Market Operations at Customized Energy Solutions, where he oversees a control room managing more than 546 active resources and 31,300 megawatts of generation. But his path to that seat started not with a five-year plan, but with family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up, Brandon watched relatives work as operators at Atlantic City Electric and PECO. Their careers planted a seed. When it came time to choose a direction, he pursued mechanical engineering before pivoting to economics \u2014 drawn equally to how systems work and how markets move. That combination, it turned out, was exactly what the energy industry needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had environmental economics classes, robotics, engineering,\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd even in high school, we were working with solar cells. Wind and renewables felt like the future.\u201d When an opportunity to join CES right out of college presented itself, he took it \u2014 and never looked back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brandon came in as an operator, working night shifts and learning the grid from the ground up. Those early years were formative in ways he still carries. He remembers working through Hurricane Sandy, water coming through the roof, emergencies cascading across the grid. \u201cIt looked very different then,\u201d he says, \u201cboth in our scope and what we did with clients.\u201d But those high-pressure moments shaped both his instincts and his appreciation for what the operations center has become.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, he has grown alongside CES \u2014 from a small-scale operation handling a handful of units to the control room that exists today. A defining chapter in that journey was the move of the Market Operations Center from the 22nd floor to its current home on the 19th, purpose-built as a state-of-the-art facility and a genuine showpiece for the company. \u201cThere\u2019s an immense amount of pride in that,\u201d Brandon says. \u201cSeeing it go from 11 assets at around 1,000 megawatts to where we are now \u2014 546 active resources and 31,300 megawatts.\u201d The growth isn\u2019t just a number on a slide. It\u2019s something he helped build, shift by shift, year by year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More recently, he led the expansion of CES\u2019s scheduling coordinator operations and the integration of Grid BOOST coordination, adding new structural layers to an already complex operation. What keeps Brandon motivated isn\u2019t just the scale \u2014 it\u2019s the people around him. He describes CES as an unusually deep talent pool, full of long-tenured industry experts who continue to challenge and teach him. \u201cYou should never be the smartest person in the room,\u201d he says, \u201cand I don\u2019t think that will ever happen here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a philosophy rooted in humility; one he would pass along to anyone considering a career in energy: stay curious, ask questions, and resist the temptation to over-specialize. \u201cThe industry moves, technologies change, regulations change. A diverse skill set will take you further.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside of work, Brandon is a devoted family man and an avid golfer \u2014 equal parts competitive and meditative, depending on the shot. He and his wife have two young sons, ages five and three, and when he\u2019s not at the course, he\u2019s likely at the beach with his family or out fishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yes, the DJ equipment is still within reach. Old friends and colleagues still call, and when they do, Brandon is usually willing to dust off the headphones. Some skills, it turns out, never really leave you \u2014 whether you\u2019re managing a dance floor or a control room, the job is the same: keep things running smoothly and know when to turn up the energy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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