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The differences between substations electrical engineers and instrumentation & control engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a substations electrical engineer and an instrumentation & control engineer. Additionally, an instrumentation & control engineer has an average salary of $92,464, which is higher than the $88,149 average annual salary of a substations electrical engineer.
The top three skills for a substations electrical engineer include IEEE, ac and dc. The most important skills for an instrumentation & control engineer are PLC, HMI, and SCADA.
| Substations Electrical Engineer | Instrumentation & Control Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $88,149 | $92,464 |
| Hourly rate | $42.38 | $44.45 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 3% |
| Number of jobs | 44,451 | 51,065 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Substation electrical engineers are engineering professionals who design medium and high voltage substations that are used to transmit and distribute electricity. These engineers are required to maintain substation equipment specifications that are according to the current industry standards and operating policies. They must review design drawings and perform load analysis to select the overall platform's power requirements. Substation electrical engineers must also provide cost estimates for substation projects as well as prepare layout drawings for future substation expansion.
An instrumentation and control engineer is responsible for installing and designing technical components for engineering systems that would support production and manufacturing processes. Instrumentation and control engineers inspect control systems, modify features and infrastructure, configure controllers, and run multiple quality checks to ensure stability and optimal performance. They must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in developing system codes and analyzing programming languages to serve control functions and development. An instrumentation and control engineer also resolves system issues and write resolution reports for reference.
Substations electrical engineers and instrumentation & control engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Substations Electrical Engineer | Instrumentation & Control Engineer | |
| Average salary | $88,149 | $92,464 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $112,000 | Between $70,000 And $121,000 |
| Highest paying City | Albuquerque, NM | Seattle, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Kiewit | Marathon Petroleum |
| Best paying industry | Construction | Energy |
There are a few differences between a substations electrical engineer and an instrumentation & control engineer in terms of educational background:
| Substations Electrical Engineer | Instrumentation & Control Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 74% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Michigan Technological University |
Here are the differences between substations electrical engineers' and instrumentation & control engineers' demographics:
| Substations Electrical Engineer | Instrumentation & Control Engineer | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1% | Male, 90.2% Female, 9.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.1% Asian, 16.5% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |