Power technician vs power operator

The differences between power technicians and power operators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a power technician has an average salary of $57,396, which is higher than the $38,263 average annual salary of a power operator.

The top three skills for a power technician include OSHA, hand tools and PLC. The most important skills for a power operator are pallets, control room, and electrical systems.

Power technician vs power operator overview

	Power Technician	Power Operator
Yearly salary	$57,396	$38,263
Hourly rate	$27.59	$18.40
Growth rate	-15%	-15%
Number of jobs	26,150	39,171
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 32%	High School Diploma, 34%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	-	-

Power technician vs power operator salary

Power technicians and power operators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Power Technician	Power Operator
Average salary	$57,396	$38,263
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $101,000	Between $28,000 And $50,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between power technician and power operator education

There are a few differences between a power technician and a power operator in terms of educational background:

	Power Technician	Power Operator
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 32%	High School Diploma, 34%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Business
Most common college	-	-

Power technician vs power operator demographics

Here are the differences between power technicians' and power operators' demographics:

	Power Technician	Power Operator
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 95.1% Female, 4.9%	Male, 86.4% Female, 13.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.1% Asian, 1.5% White, 76.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.4%	Black or African American, 5.7% Unknown, 5.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 1.5% White, 77.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.4%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between power technician and power operator duties and responsibilities

Power technician example responsibilities.

Perform trouble shooting of equipment such as rectifiers, disconnects and battery plants.
Specialize in maintenance testing and repair of automatic transfer switches, low and medium voltage distribution equipment.
Repair automatic transfer switches at different sites throughout the state.
Install alternating current applications such as rectifiers, environmental circuits, etc.
Install, configure and troubleshoot LTE, UMTS wireless systems on ATT and Verizon network.
Perform installation, upgrades and reconfiguration to integrate UMTS 850/1900 and LTE 700/1900/AWS into existing UMTS/CDMA sites.

Power operator example responsibilities.

Manage an internal environmental information system and ensure compliance with EPA and RCRA regulations.
Operate heavy equipment, loaders, lifts, hand and power tools to complete skil tasks.
Adjust controls of water and cold feed systems, blowers and igniters to start up and shut down boilers.
Help electrical maintenance department troubleshoot motors and other electrical devices.
Identify parameters indicative of an emergency condition and initiate designated actions, execute terminal shutdown and start-up procedures upon approval.
Conduct rig movements during drilling operations.

Power technician vs power operator skills

Common power technician skills

OSHA, 17%
Hand Tools, 12%
PLC, 10%
Electrical Distribution, 8%
A/C, 6%
Safety Procedures, 5%

Common power operator skills

Pallets, 28%
Control Room, 19%
Electrical Systems, 9%
Water Treatment, 8%
Cooling Towers, 5%
HVAC, 4%