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What is a substation electrician and how to become one
A substation electrician is a highly skilled professional responsible for inspecting, maintaining, and repairing substation electrical equipment. The common types of equipment they work with include oil circuit breakers, transformers, and insulators.
The typical workday of a substation electrician involves conducting maintenance checks, testing equipment, making any necessary repairs or replacements, and completing maintenance records. They may also be responsible for painting, repairing, and maintaining substation buildings, as well as pouring concrete footings for heavy equipment installation. As you would expect, this job requires a lot of physical activity, and substation electricians usually find themselves on their feet most of the time.
Besides a high school diploma, a substation electrician would need to complete an appropriate apprenticeship to qualify for this role. They would also need to have substantial hands-on experience working with substation equipment, as well as excellent knowledge of safety standards and protocols.
Since this job is inherently risky and mission-critical, substation electricians earn an average of $82,000 per year.
What general advice would you give to a Substation Electrician?
Ronald Widdoss
Avg. Salary $67,906
Avg. Salary $59,228
Growth Rate 7%
Growth Rate 0.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.87%
Asian 2.28%
Black or African American 8.88%
Hispanic or Latino 19.45%
Unknown 4.29%
White 64.24%
Genderfemale 7.53%
male 92.47%
Age - 41American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%
Asian 7.00%
Black or African American 14.00%
Hispanic or Latino 19.00%
White 57.00%
Genderfemale 47.00%
male 53.00%
Age - 41Stress level is high
7.1 - high
Complexity Level is challenging
7 - challenging
Work Life balance is fair
6.4 - fair
Substation Electrician career paths
Key steps to become a substation electrician
Explore substation electrician education requirements
Start to develop specific substation electrician skills
Skills 
Percentages CDL 11.47% Transformers 11.26% Circuit Breakers 9.01% Switches 7.07% Substation Equipment 6.47% Complete relevant substation electrician training and internships
Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New substation electricians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a substation electrician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real substation electrician resumes.Obtain the necessary licensing
Becoming a licensed substation electrician usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed substation electrician in most of states. 25 states require substation electricians to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.State Education Exam License Url Alabama - State exam required Licensed Journeyman Electrician Alaska - State exam required Electrical Worker Arkansas - Third-party exam required Journeyman Electrician Colorado - State exam required Journeyman Electrician Hawaii Degree required State exam required Electrician Research substation electrician duties and responsibilities
- Remove, analyze, identify issue install properly working pressure transducers, effectively accomplishing priorities to go underway.
- Work include making connections from switches to structures to grid.
- Perform Doble field testing and infrare thermography viewing on EHV equipment.
- Disconnect voltage regulators, bolts, and screws, and connect replacement regulators to high-voltage lines.
Prepare your substation electrician resume
When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your substation electrician resume.
You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a substation electrician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Substation Electrician Resume templates
Build a professional Substation Electrician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Substation Electrician resume.
Apply for substation electrician jobs
Now it's time to start searching for a substation electrician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:
- Browse job boards for relevant postings
- Consult your professional network
- Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
- Watch out for job scams
How Did You Land Your First Substation Electrician Job
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Average substation electrician salary
The average Substation Electrician salary in the United States is $67,906 per year or $33 per hour. Substation electrician salaries range between $46,000 and $98,000 per year.
What Am I Worth?
How do substation electricians rate their job?
Substation Electrician reviews
Bending pipe,cause it cost me money if the measurements is off
Thinking about the job while working the job
Is to keep lights burning to satisfy customers
The customers siting on the dark
Nothing? Its the worst job on site and you have to put up with working with uneducated divs. And thats just the management.
Retarded trades who think they are special. They don't realise to be an electrician requires superior brain power, something they can only dream about. Hence the continual flapping of their gums trying to make us believe their dull useless lives are interesting.
Updated January 8, 2025
