Power Plant Operators

Overview

Power Plant Operators has a national median salary of $102,040 per year, with -5.1% projected job growth from 2025–2035. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation.

Description

Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.

Work Values

• Support
• Relationships
• Independence

Work Styles

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Control generator output to match the phase, frequency, or voltage of electricity supplied to panels.
• Take regulatory action, based on readings from charts, meters and gauges, at established intervals.
• Control power generating equipment, including boilers, turbines, generators, or reactors, using control boards or semi-automatic equipment.
• Start or stop generators, auxiliary pumping equipment, turbines, or other power plant equipment as necessary.
• Monitor power plant equipment and indicators to detect evidence of operating problems.

Work Activities

• Controlling Machines and Processes
• Repairing and Maintaining Mechanical Equipment
• Getting Information
• Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings
• Making Decisions and Solving Problems
• Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates
• Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events
• Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards
• Inspecting Equipment, Structures, or Materials
• Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment

Detailed Work Activities

• Using either control mechanisms or direct physical activity to operate machines or processes (not including computers or vehicles).
• Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing machines, devices, moving parts, and equipment that operate primarily on the basis of mechanical (not electronic) principles.
• Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
• Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
• Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
• Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
• Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
• Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
• Inspecting equipment, structures, or materials to identify the cause of errors or other problems or defects.
• Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or watercraft.

T-A-S-K

Technology, Abilities, Skills & Knowledge

Education

Education Levels of Current Workers

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical education needed to enter this occupation. The chart below shows the highest level of education held by people already working in this field, ages 25 and older. It includes workers who earned more education than the job requires and workers who entered the field under earlier requirements, so the largest bar is not the entry requirement. For example, if someone finished an associate's degree and then started working in this field, they are counted under “Associate's degree” here, but the job itself typically asks for a high school diploma or equivalent.

Certificates

Certifications applicable to Power Plant Operators:

Video Resources