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What does a plant utilities engineer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
6 min read

Plant utilities engineers must have basic knowledge of commercial electrical systems and testing equipment, high temperature water distribution, and HVAC control systems. Qualifications will vary depending on the company; they range from a high school diploma or GED to associate degrees in plant utilities technology or completion of a trade school program. Those who choose this career will be expected to maintain and operate the mechanical equipment in a utilities plant.

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Plant utilities engineer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real plant utilities engineer resumes:

  • Conduct weekly facility safety inspections to ensure OSHA compliance are achieved.
  • Perform general maintenance to guestrooms and public areas while monitoring and maintaining cleanliness, sanitation and organization of assign work areas.
  • Change bearings on upender, and repair and operate polar crane and spend fuel pit crane.
  • Load and unload tractor trailers with fork lift, run a baler, and run a kabota.

Plant utilities engineer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 18% of Plant Utilities Engineers are proficient in Ventilation, Plant Utilities, and Loaders. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Dexterity, and Troubleshooting skills.

We break down the percentage of Plant Utilities Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Ventilation, 18%

    Reorganized and updated plant Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC) processes, including seasonal PM's and trade licensing.

  • Plant Utilities, 15%

    Scheduled and supervised Plant Utilities Engineer 1 crew to ensure year round 24 hour coverage by providing oral and written instructions.

  • Loaders, 11%

    Do mostly plant maintenance at 6 plant's and sometimes help work on the trucks and loaders

  • Mechanical Equipment, 11%

    Managed mechanical project and manage the daily activities of facilities operations, thus improving and documenting mechanical equipment maintenance schedule.

  • Electrical Equipment, 11%

    Disassembled defective electrical equipment, replaced defective and worn parts and re-assembled equipment.

  • End Loaders, 9%

    Used small and large front end loaders Ran a locomotive on property Drove a haul truck Operated fork lifts and mobile cranes

Common skills that a plant utilities engineer uses to do their job include "ventilation," "plant utilities," and "loaders." You can find details on the most important plant utilities engineer responsibilities below.

Customer-service skills. The most essential soft skill for a plant utilities engineer to carry out their responsibilities is customer-service skills. This skill is important for the role because "these workers interact with customers on a regular basis." Additionally, a plant utilities engineer resume shows how their duties depend on customer-service skills: "performed preventative maintenance of guest suites and property grounds which included plumbing repairs, painting, wallpapering and basic electrical repairs. "

Dexterity. Another essential skill to perform plant utilities engineer duties is dexterity. Plant utilities engineers responsibilities require that "many repair and maintenance tasks, such as repairing small devices, connecting or attaching components, and using hand tools, require a steady hand and good hand–eye coordination." Plant utilities engineers also use dexterity in their role according to a real resume snippet: "assisted technicians to troubleshoot complex electro-mechanical equipment, i.e., ups, ats, and plc controlled train lifts, switchgear. "

Troubleshooting skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of plant utilities engineers is troubleshooting skills. This skill is critical to many everyday plant utilities engineer duties, as "workers find, diagnose, and repair problems." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "job duties: maintain machinery including emergency repairs and preventive maintenance, troubleshooting plcs. "

See the full list of plant utilities engineer skills

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Compare different plant utilities engineers

Plant utilities engineer vs. Repair technician

A repair technician's role focuses on assessing the problem or damage of a device and implementing solutions for it to function again. Although the extent of a technician's tasks will depend on the device or industry of employment, most of it revolves around troubleshooting, providing technical support, installing and writing programs, detaching and re-attaching wirings, welding, and even thoroughly discussing problems and solutions to clients. Furthermore, there are instances when a repair technician must work in a team setting that requires coordination and communication.

We looked at the average plant utilities engineer salary and compared it with the wages of a repair technician. Generally speaking, repair technicians are paid $9,557 lower than plant utilities engineers per year.Even though plant utilities engineers and repair technicians are distinct careers, a few of the skills required for both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require assembly line, service calls, and brazing in the day-to-day roles and responsibilities.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, plant utilities engineer responsibilities require skills like "ventilation," "plant utilities," "loaders," and "mechanical equipment." Meanwhile a typical repair technician has skills in areas such as "customer service," "hand tools," "customer satisfaction," and "preventative maintenance." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Repair technicians earn the highest salaries when working in the manufacturing industry, with an average yearly salary of $49,974. On the other hand, plant utilities engineers are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $69,510.On average, repair technicians reach similar levels of education than plant utilities engineers. Repair technicians are 1.9% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Plant utilities engineer vs. Groundskeeping maintenance

A Groundskeeping Maintenance Worker performs several skilled and semi-skilled tasks in grounds keeping and building trade areas. They maintain turf places, including weed control and Integrated Pest Management. They also cut and install window glass. These professionals replace broken pipes, replace gaskets, replace washers, replace faucets, flush sewer lines, and clean clogged drains. A Groundskeepipng Maintenance Worker must know how to operate hand equipment and power tools and identify and repair minor roof leaks.

On average, groundskeeping maintenances earn a $20,688 lower salary than plant utilities engineers a year.

Each career also uses different skills, according to real plant utilities engineer resumes. While plant utilities engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "ventilation," "plant utilities," "loaders," and "electrical equipment," groundskeeping maintenances use skills like "customer service," "cleanliness," "hvac," and "grass."

Groundskeeping maintenances earn a lower average salary than plant utilities engineers. But groundskeeping maintenances earn the highest pay in the real estate industry, with an average salary of $32,000. Additionally, plant utilities engineers earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $69,510 annually.In general, groundskeeping maintenances achieve similar levels of education than plant utilities engineers. They're 0.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Plant utilities engineer vs. Maintenance assistant

A maintenance assistant is responsible for maintaining the company's facilities' cleanliness, ensuring that all the equipment and machinery are in working condition, and escalating high defective items for repair. Maintenance assistants should adhere to the organization's safety standards at all times to prevent hazards in operations. They also assist with monitoring inventories and requesting office supplies, inspect electrical wirings and systems for inconsistencies, respond to cleaning and repair requests, and assist guests to the correct departments.

On average scale, maintenance assistants bring in lower salaries than plant utilities engineers. In fact, they earn a $19,285 lower salary per year.By looking over several plant utilities engineers and maintenance assistants resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "mechanical equipment," "electrical equipment," and "osha." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a plant utilities engineer is likely to be skilled in "ventilation," "plant utilities," "loaders," and "end loaders," while a typical maintenance assistant is skilled in "plumbing," "hvac," "customer service," and "patients."

Maintenance assistants make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $35,031. On the other hand, plant utilities engineers are paid the highest salary in the manufacturing industry, with average annual pay of $69,510.Most maintenance assistants achieve a similar degree level compared to plant utilities engineers. For example, they're 1.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Plant utilities engineer vs. Maintenance associate

A maintenance associate is responsible for ensuring the cleanliness and orderliness of the facilities, as well as inspecting and repairing broken machines and defective equipment to avoid delays in the operations. Maintenance associates monitor the adequacy of inventories, especially in manufacturing settings, coordinating with suppliers and third-party vendors for distribution and delivery. They also report hazardous incidents to the management, resolve maintenance complaints, and suggest quality control strategies to prevent reoccurrence and improve operational structures.

Maintenance associates tend to earn a lower pay than plant utilities engineers by an average of $16,099 per year.While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "ventilation," "plant utilities," "loaders," and "electrical equipment" are skills that commonly show up on plant utilities engineer resumes. On the other hand, maintenance associates use skills like customer service, clean environment, sales floor, and cleanliness on their resumes.The manufacturing industry tends to pay the highest salaries for maintenance associates, with average annual pay of $37,733. Comparatively, the highest plant utilities engineer annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.maintenance associates reach similar levels of education compared to plant utilities engineers, in general. The difference is that they're 1.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of plant utilities engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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