Production · Holland code RCI
Power Plant Operators
Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.
Also called: Auxiliary Operator, Control Room Operator, Operations and Maintenance Technician (O and M Tech), Power Plant Operator, Control Operator, Multicraft Operator (MCO), Plant Control Operator, Plant Operator.
O*NET 51-8013.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $102,040
- Middle half earn $79,690 to $119,080. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 60% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 2 of 5
- Some 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.
- 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.
- Operate or maintain distributed power generation equipment, including fuel cells or microturbines, to produce energy on-site for manufacturing or other commercial purposes.
- Adjust controls to generate specified electrical power or to regulate the flow of power between generating stations and substations.
- Open and close valves and switches in sequence to start or shut down auxiliary units.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Critical Thinking3.8 / 5
- Speaking3.4 / 5
- Active Listening3.3 / 5
- Monitoring3.3 / 5
- Reading Comprehension3.1 / 5
- Writing3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Mechanical4.0 / 5
- Public Safety and Security3.7 / 5
- English Language3.6 / 5
- Production and Processing3.4 / 5
- Chemistry3.2 / 5
- Physics3.1 / 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.
- Realistic97
- Investigative31
- Artistic0
- Social4
- Enterprising16
- Conventional69
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
- fossil-fuel power plant operator · DE Steuerer von mit fossilen Brennstoffen betriebenen Kraftwerken/Steuerin von mit fossilen Brennstoffen betriebenen Kraftwerken · FR conducteur/conductrice d’installation de production d’énergie fossile
- geothermal power plant operator · DE Steuerer von Geothermiekraftwerken/Steuerin von Geothermiekraftwerken · FR conducteur/conductrice d’installations de production d’énergie géothermique
- hydroelectric plant operator · DE Steuerer von Wasserkraftwerken/Steuerin von Wasserkraftwerken · FR conducteur/conductrice d’installations de production d’hydroélectricité
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Energy plant operatives (8133)5,600 employed
- Electrical and electronic trades n.e.c. (5249)18,100 employed
- Electricians and electrical fitters (5241)193,000 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.
Japan
Japan classifies jobs in its own way. The closest category that names the same work is “発電員，変電員”, which may be narrower or broader than this occupation.
- Median monthly pay
- ¥358,900
- Middle half earn ¥281,600 to ¥474,900 a month.
- Workers in the category
- 21,030
- Regular employees in firms of ten or more.
Scheduled monthly pay before tax, excluding overtime and bonuses, so it is not comparable to the annual figures above. Source: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025, via e-Stat, under the Japanese Government Standard Terms of Use. The category match was made by hand.
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.
| 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 -0.35. 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 (51-8013).
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