Power Plant Operators
Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.
- Median pay
- $102,040
- Doing it now
- 29,800
- By 2035
- Down 5.1%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
2,300 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Monitor power plant equipment and indicators to detect evidence of operating problems.
- Control power generating equipment, including boilers, turbines, generators, or reactors, using control boards or semi-automatic equipment.
- Regulate equipment operations and conditions, such as water levels, based on instrument data or from computers.
- Take regulatory action, based on readings from charts, meters and gauges, at established intervals.
- Start or stop generators, auxiliary pumping equipment, turbines, or other power plant equipment as necessary.
- Inspect records or log book entries or communicate with plant personnel to assess equipment operating status.
- Control or maintain auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, fans, compressors, condensers, feedwater heaters, filters, or chlorinators, to supply water, fuel, lubricants, air, or auxiliary power.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Energy Systems Technologies/TechniciansSee 19 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $102,040 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.