Career Explorer Production
Human edge, steady
Power plant operators
Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.
Changing faster than most: more resilient than 36% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it moderate), and US jobs are projected to change by -5.1% by 2035, expected to shrink. The work leans on ethical judgement and physical dexterity.
AI struggles with much of this work. Hiring is expected to grow slower than average, or to shrink.
- Median pay (2025)
- $102,040
- Job growth to 2035
- -5.1%
- Openings a year
- 2,300
- People doing it (2025)
- 29,800
- Usual route in
- High school diploma, then long on-the-job training
Where people already use AI for this work
- Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance
- Communicate with others about operational plans or activities
- Diagnose system or equipment problems
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Operate energy production or distribution equipment
- Operate pumping systems or equipment
- Maintain operational records
What the work looks like
- 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.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- Fewer of these jobs, as upgraded technologies incorporated into power plants will make power plant operators more productive.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Stationary engineers and boiler operatorsHuman edge, steady, Index 77, +3.1%
- Water and wastewater treatment plant and system operatorsHuman edge, steady, Index 45, -5.7%
- Cooling and freezing equipment operators and tendersHuman edge, growing, Index 90, +5.9%
- Pump operators, except wellhead pumpersHuman edge, growing, Index 79, +4.3%
Also known as: Auxiliary Operator, Control Room Operator, Operations and Maintenance Technician (O and M Tech), Power Plant Operator, Fuel Handler, Operations Technician (Operations Tech), Plant Operator, Hydro Technician (Hydro Tech).
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.