Also called: Distribution Planning Engineer, Power Distribution Engineer
Plans the poles, wires and transformers that carry electricity to neighborhoods.
A new subdivision of 300 homes is coming, so you design how to extend power lines to it and size the transformers. You drive out to the site, walk the route with a crew foreman, and adjust the plan around a creek nobody mentioned.
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 electrical engineering; PE license helpful.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Electrical Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering.
Growing faster than average (about 7% over 10 years). Utilities are hiring to replace retirees and handle EVs and data centers.
Low risk in 5 years, medium in 10. Grid software and AI automate routine design and load studies; field visits, storm response and planning with crews stay human.
Classes: Physics, Algebra II, Electrical CTE, Earth science.
Official data: O*NET occupation 17-2071.
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.