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Power Distributors and Dispatchers

Coordinate, regulate, or distribute electricity or steam.

What you’d do

  • Coordinate with engineers, planners, field personnel, or other utility workers to provide information such as clearances, switching orders, or distribution process changes.
  • Respond to emergencies, such as transformer or transmission line failures, and route current around affected areas.
  • Control, monitor, or operate equipment that regulates or distributes electricity or steam, using data obtained from instruments or computers.
  • Direct personnel engaged in controlling or operating distribution equipment or machinery, such as instructing control room operators to start boilers or generators.
  • Distribute or regulate the flow of power between entities, such as generating stations, substations, distribution lines, or users, keeping track of the status of circuits or connections.
  • Manipulate controls to adjust or activate power distribution equipment or machines.
  • Prepare switching orders that will isolate work areas without causing power outages, referring to drawings of power systems.
  • Monitor and record switchboard or control board readings to ensure that electrical or steam distribution equipment is operating properly.

Skills that matter

  • Active Listening
  • Critical Thinking
  • Monitoring
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Speaking
  • Complex Problem Solving

How to get there

Medium preparation: usually vocational school, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree

Also called

  • Power System Dispatcher
  • Power System Operator
  • Systems Operator
  • Transmission System Operator (TSO)
  • Control Area Operator
  • Control Operator

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