Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · Holland code RCI

Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay

Inspect, test, repair, or maintain electrical equipment in generating stations, substations, and in-service relays.

Also called: Relay Technician, Substation Electrician, Substation Technician, Wireman, Electrical and Instrumentation Technician (E and I Technician), Electrical Technician, Instrument and Control Technician (I and C Technician), Instrumentation and Control Technician (I and C Technician).

O*NET 49-2095.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $103,020; Middle half earn $81,860 to $118,870. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Post-Secondary Certificate; 50% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 3 of 5; Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Inspect and test equipment and circuits to identify malfunctions or defects, using wiring diagrams and testing devices such as ohmmeters, voltmeters, or ammeters.
Prepare and maintain records detailing tests, repairs, and maintenance.
Consult manuals, schematics, wiring diagrams, and engineering personnel to troubleshoot and solve equipment problems and to determine optimum equipment functioning.
Analyze test data to diagnose malfunctions, to determine performance characteristics of systems, or to evaluate effects of system modifications.
Open and close switches to isolate defective relays, performing adjustments or repairs.
Notify facility personnel of equipment shutdowns.
Construct, test, maintain, and repair substation relay and control systems.
Test insulators and bushings of equipment by inducing voltage across insulation, testing current, and calculating insulation loss.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Critical Thinking3.8 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.4 / 5
Active Listening3.1 / 5
Speaking3.1 / 5
Monitoring3.0 / 5
Writing2.9 / 5

Knowledge areas

Mechanical4.3 / 5
Mathematics3.9 / 5
Engineering and Technology3.9 / 5
Public Safety and Security3.9 / 5
English Language3.8 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.7 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic100
Investigative42
Artistic0
Social1
Enterprising5
Conventional71

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

power production plant operator · DE Steuerer von Energieerzeugungsanlagen/Steuerin von Energieerzeugungsanlagen · FR conducteur d’installations de production d’énergie/conductrice d’installations de production d’énergie
electrical power distributor · DE Steuerer Stromverteilung/Steuerin Stromverteilung · FR monteur-électricien réseaux distribution électrique/monteuse-électricienne réseaux distribution électrique
electrical transmission system operator · DE Steuerer Stromversorgung/Steuerin Stromversorgung · FR conducteur/conductrice de systèmes de transmission d’électricité
power plant control room operator · DE Steuerer Kraftwerksleitstand/Steuerin Kraftwerksleitstand · FR opérateur salle de contrôle en production d’énergie/opératrice salle de contrôle en production d’énergie
electrician · DE Industrieelektriker – Geräte und Systeme/Industrieelektrikerin – Geräte und Systeme · FR électricien/électricienne
building electrician · DE Bauelektriker/Bauelektrikerin · FR électricien du bâtiment/électricienne du bâtiment

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Energy plant operatives (8133)5,600 employed
Electricians and electrical fitters (5241)193,000 employed
Electrical and electronic trades n.e.c. (5249)18,100 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Technicians and associate professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€50,992
Austria	€46,986
Germany	€44,473
Netherlands	€42,448
Ireland	€41,613
Sweden	€41,155
Italy	€34,882
France	€34,816
Spain	€29,757
Portugal	€18,080
Poland	€12,108

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of -0.55. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (49-2095).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test