Also called: Rural Electric Co-op General Manager, Electric Membership Corporation CEO
Runs a member-owned power company that keeps the lights on for farms, ranches and small towns, reporting to a board elected by customers.
Ice took down 300 poles overnight, and you are coordinating crews from three states while calling the board president. In calmer weeks you plan rate changes, decide whether to bring fiber internet to members, and speak at the co-op's annual meeting in a school gym with barbecue and a bucket truck ride for kids.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in business or engineering, often an MBA, plus 10-15 years in utilities.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Business Administration, Electrical Engineering, Agricultural Business.
Growing about average. About 900 electric co-ops serve 42 million Americans; leaders are retiring.
Low risk for 10 years. AI improves outage maps and load forecasts; leading a board, crews and a rural community stays human.
Classes: Business class, Government, Physics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-1011.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.