Power Plant Operators
Control, operate, or maintain machinery to generate electric power. Includes auxiliary equipment operators.
29,320 people do this job in the US. $102,040 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 45%
- 0%
- 55%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 1%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 37%. Today's estimate: 41%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 30 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate landfill gas, methane, or natural gas fueled electrical generation systems. | 17% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Repair or replace gas piping. | 14% | 5 h1.7 h to 1.3 work days | Stays with people | |
| Trace electrical circuitry to ensure compliance of electrical systems with applicable codes or laws. | 10% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 5.8 h | Stays with people | |
| Verify that well field monitoring data conforms to applicable regulations. | 6% | 2.1 h50 min to 4.2 h | 72%Half by now | |
| Analyze the layout, instrumentation, or function of electrical generation or transmission facilities. AI observed on this task. | 5% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | 90%Half by now | |
| Control power generating equipment, including boilers, turbines, generators, or reactors, using control boards or semi-automatic equipment.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 5% | 33 min17 min to 1.3 h | 100%Half by now | |
| Operate or maintain distributed power generation equipment, including fuel cells or microturbines, to produce energy on-site for manufacturing or other commercial purposes.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min17 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Diagnose or troubleshoot problems with gas collection systems. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 77%Half by now | |
| Prepare and submit compliance, operational, and safety forms or reports. | 4% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | 77%Half by now | |
| Control or maintain auxiliary equipment, such as pumps, fans, compressors, condensers, feedwater heaters, filters, or chlorinators, to supply water, fuel, lubricants, air, or auxiliary power.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Regulate equipment operations and conditions, such as water levels, based on instrument data or from computers.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | 100%Half by now | |
| Start or stop generators, auxiliary pumping equipment, turbines, or other power plant equipment as necessary.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 3% | 21 min8 min to 1.1 h | 99%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Hydroelectric Plant Technicians10% now, 11% by 2028
- Biomass Plant Technicians6% now, 7% by 2028
- Gas Plant Operators14% now, 16% by 2028
- Geothermal Technicians23% now, 32% by 2028
- Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators13% now, 22% by 2028
- Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers42% now, 47% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).