---
title: "Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay"
description: "Inspect, test, repair, or maintain electrical equipment in generating stations, substations, and in-service relays."
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-powerhouse-substation-and-relay"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay

**Category:** Installation, Maintenance, and Repair · **SOC code:** 49-2095 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 49-2095.00

Inspect, test, repair, or maintain electrical equipment in generating stations, substations, and in-service relays.

Also advertised as: Electrical and Instrumentation Technician (E and I Technician); Electrical Technician; Instrument and Control Technician (I and C Technician); Instrumentation and Control Technician (I and C Technician); Relay Technician; Substation Electrician; Substation Mechanic; Substation Technician.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $103,020 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $49.53/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $65,730 to $129,920, with the middle half between $81,860 and $118,870
- **Total US employment:** 20,720
- **Typical entry education:** Certificate
- **Preparation required:** Some preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +9.7% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 1,800 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 49/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 20,720 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $65,730 |
| 25th | $81,860 |
| 50th (median) | $103,020 |
| 75th | $118,870 |
| 90th | $129,920 |
| Mean (average) | $100,760 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OR | $131,050 | $126,789 | 170 |
| HI | $127,330 | $115,806 | 70 |
| WA | $125,620 | $117,388 | 410 |
| CO | $125,560 | $121,841 | 210 |
| AK | $125,260 | $122,373 | 80 |
| CA | $121,520 | $109,754 | 1,680 |
| MA | $119,460 | $112,957 | 430 |
| ID | $119,170 | $124,793 | 100 |
| MD | $117,760 | $112,196 | Not published by BLS |
| UT | $114,250 | $115,563 | 100 |
| NJ | $111,600 | $102,569 | 450 |
| CT | $109,610 | $105,791 | 210 |
| WI | $108,980 | $115,819 | 150 |
| RI | $107,980 | $105,573 | 30 |
| IL | $107,470 | $107,515 | 420 |

34 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 49 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-powerhouse-substation-and-relay/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-powerhouse-substation-and-relay.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 20,900 in the 2025–2035 base year to 22,900 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 2,000 jobs, or +9.7%. Much faster than average: 9.7% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 1,800 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Postsecondary nondegree award (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Some preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** Less than 5 years.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** Moderate-term on-the-job training.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 50.3% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 27.9% |
| Some College Courses | 11.2% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 8.2% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 2.4% |

## What the work involves

- Consult manuals, schematics, wiring diagrams, and engineering personnel to troubleshoot and solve equipment problems and to determine optimum equipment functioning.
- Inspect and test equipment and circuits to identify malfunctions or defects, using wiring diagrams and testing devices such as ohmmeters, voltmeters, or ammeters.
- Prepare and maintain records detailing tests, repairs, and maintenance.
- Notify facility personnel of equipment shutdowns.
- Repair, replace, and clean equipment and components such as circuit breakers, brushes, and commutators.
- Analyze test data to diagnose malfunctions, to determine performance characteristics of systems, or to evaluate effects of system modifications.
- Open and close switches to isolate defective relays, performing adjustments or repairs.
- Run signal quality and connectivity tests for individual cables, and record results.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Critical Thinking — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Science — importance 2.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Equipment Maintenance — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Repairing — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Troubleshooting — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Mechanical — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Public Safety and Security — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Computers and Electronics — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Near Vision — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Arm-Hand Steadiness — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Realistic (R), Conventional (C), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| R — Realistic | 7.00 |
| C — Conventional | 5.27 |
| I — Investigative | 3.52 |
| E — Enterprising | 1.30 |
| S — Social | 1.07 |
| A — Artistic | 1.00 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 93.5 |
| ISTP | 79.7 |
| ISFJ | 75.1 |
| ESTJ | 74.0 |
| INTJ | 71.7 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Electrical and Electronics Repairer, Commercial and Industrial Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-repairer-commercial-and-industrial-equipment) — median $74,090
- [Control and Valve Installer and Repairer, Except Mechanical Door](https://nuecareer.com/careers/control-and-valve-installer-and-repairer) — median $74,340
- [Electrical and Electronics Installer and Repairer, Transportation Equipment](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronics-installer-and-repairer-transportation-equipment) — median $84,890
- [Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrical-and-electronic-engineering-technologist-and-technician) — median $78,190
- [Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electric-motor-power-tool-and-related-repairer) — median $56,210
- [Power Distributor and Dispatcher](https://nuecareer.com/careers/power-distributor-and-dispatcher) — median $106,730
- [Calibration Technologist and Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/calibration-technologist-and-technician) — median $67,820
- [Stationary Engineer and Boiler Operator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/stationary-engineer-and-boiler-operator) — median $78,620
- [Electrician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/electrician) — median $63,190
- [Hydroelectric Plant Technician](https://nuecareer.com/careers/hydroelectric-plant-technician) — median $102,040

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

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