Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer designs and coordinates maintenance of electrical utilities and associated power distribution systems. Performs inspections, performance evaluations, troubleshooting and sunsetting of systems.

Job Outlook

There were 260 Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 4077 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Power Systems Engineer industry, which includes the Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:

Salary

Many new Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $96,522.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $97,206.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $76,702.

Education and Experience

Posted Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education Level	Percentage
Associate's Degree	0%
Bachelor's Degree	66.4%
Master's Degree	14.1%
Doctoral Degree	2.06%
Other	5.96%

Posted Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of Experience	Percentage
0 to 2 years	17.03%
3 to 5 years	50.16%
6 to 8 years	15.37%
9+ years	17.45%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

Communication (36.91%)
Operations (34.68%)
Coordinating (28.11%)
Planning (27.37%)
Management (22.08%)
Leadership (21.46%)
Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (19.21%)
Problem Solving (18.35%)
Microsoft Office (15.04%)
Writing (11.97%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

Electrical Engineering (33.59%)
Project Management (36.85%)
Construction (23.76%)
Utility Engineering (21.96%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

Low Voltage (19.87%)
High Voltage (17.77%)
AutoCAD (17.72%)
Power Distribution (15.44%)
Electric Power Distribution (11.95%)
Electric Power Systems (10.89%)
Electrical Systems (10.07%)
Mechanical Engineering (12.61%)
Civil Engineering (11.68%)
Engineering Design Process (11.68%)
Electric Utility (10.52%)
HVAC (11.05%)
Computer-Aided Design (5.06%)
Transformers (Electrical) (7.89%)
Fire Alarm Systems (4.64%)
Voltage (9.25%)
Construction Management (11.76%)
Automation (8.87%)
Project Engineering (8.72%)
Wastewater (8.95%)
Boilers (9.85%)
Commissioning (7.97%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

Master Systems (0.29%)

Salary Boosting Skills

A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.

Electrical Engineering (100%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

Plant Utilities Engineer
Distribution Engineer
Low Voltage Technician
High Voltage Technician
Engineer
High Voltage Electrician
Low Voltage Electrician
Facilities Electrical Engineer
Distribution Designer
Utilities Manager

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Utilities & Power Distribution Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

Actalent (209)
Kiewit Corporation (109)
State of New York (98)
Insight Global (95)
Farnsworth Group (76)
JE Dunn Construction (72)
Siemens (61)
Power Engineers (50)
Burns & McDonnell (50)
Team Linx (45)

North Carolina

State of North Carolina (19)
Actalent (14)
Insight Global (12)
Siemens (11)
Fujifilm (10)
Kiewit Corporation (9)
Amgen (9)
Zachary Piper Solutions (8)
Olsson (6)
Farnsworth Group (6)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!

All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.

Engineering