Electrical Power Generation/Distribution Personnel

Individuals who control the machinery that generates electricity and/or the flow of electricity from the power plant, over a network of transmission lines, to industrial plants and substations and, finally, over distribution lines to residential users. Power plant operators control and monitor boilers, turbines, generators and auxiliary equipment in power-generating plants; and may be designated by the energy source which is converted into electrical energy, e.g., waste to energy-cogeneration (wood waste), hydroelectric, fossil fuel (coal, oil, gas), geothermal, nuclear and solar power plant operators. They distribute power demands among generators, combine the current from several generators and monitor instruments to maintain voltage and regulate electricity flows from the plant. When power requirements change, these workers start or stop generators and connect or disconnect them from circuits. Power distributors and dispatchers control the flow of electricity through transmission lines to industrial plants and substations that supply power to meet residential electric needs. They monitor and operate current converters, voltage transformers, and circuit breakers. Dispatchers also handle emergencies such as transformer or transmission line failures and route current around affected areas. In substations, they operate and monitor equipment that increases or decreases voltage, and they operate switchboard levers to control the flow of electricity in and out of the substations.