• Persons with college training in advanced technology will have the best opportunities.
• Employment growth and opportunities vary among segments of the industry.
• Production workers’ earnings are significantly higher than in most other industries.

Electric services. This segment includes firms engaged in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale. Electric plants harness highly pressurized steam or some force of nature to spin the blades of a turbine, which is attached to an electric generator. Coal is by far the dominant fuel used to generate steam in electric power plants, followed by nuclear power, natural gas, petroleum, and other energy sources. Hydroelectric generators are powered by the release of the tremendous pressure of water existing at the bottom of a dam or near a waterfall. Scientists also are conducting considerable research into renewable sources of electric power—geothermal, wind, and solar energy. Some municipalities capture combustible gases or burn waste materials at landfills to generate electricity.

Legislative changes have created new classes of firms that generate and sell electricity. Industrial plants often have their own electricity generating facilities, usually capable of producing more than they require. They are called nonutility generators (NUG) and sell their excess power to utilities or to other industrial plants. A type of NUG, termed an independent power producer, is an electricity generating plant designed to take advantage of both industry deregulation and the latest generating technology to compete directly with utilities for industrial and other wholesale customers.

Transmission or high voltage lines supported by huge towers connect generating plants with industrial customers and substations. At substations, the electricity’s voltage is reduced and made available for household and small business use via distribution lines, which usually are carried by telephone poles.

Gas production and distribution. Natural gas, a clear odorless gas, is found underground, often near or associated with crude oil reserves. Exploration and extraction of natural gas is part of the oil and gas extraction industry, covered elsewhere in the Career Guide to Industries. Once found and brought to the surface, it is transported throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico by gas transmission companies using pressurized pipelines. Local distribution companies take natural gas from the pipeline, depressurize it, add its odor, and operate the system that delivers the gas from transmission pipelines to industrial, residential, and commercial customers. Industrial customers, such as chemical and paper manufacturing firms, account for nearly half of natural gas consumption. Residential customers who use gas for heating and cooking, electric utilities, and commercial businesses—such as hospitals and restaurants—account for most of the remaining consumption.

Water supply. Water utilities provide over 100 gallons of fresh, treated water every day for each person in this country, or about 40 billion gallons per day nationwide. Water is collected from various sources such as rivers, lakes, and wells. After collection, water is filtered, treated, and sold for residential, industrial, commercial, and public use. Depending on the population served by the water system, the utility may be a small plant in a rural area that requires the occasional monitoring of a single operator or a huge system of reservoirs, dams, pipelines, and treatment plants, requiring the coordinated efforts of hundreds of people.

Sanitary services. This segment includes sewage and refuse systems. Sewage systems collect wastewater from homes and industries, treat it, and return clean water to the surface water supply. Wastewater treatment plants are similar to water treatment plants, although the treatment processes and regulatory requirements are generally more complicated, especially in the case of industrial wastes.

Refuse systems collect and dispose of household garbage—called municipal solid waste—and refuse from commercial and industrial establishments by processing or destroying it through the operation of waste treatment plants, landfills, recycling plants, and incinerators. An increasing proportion of refuse is either recycled or burned to generate electricity.

Other utilities include steam and air-conditioning supply utilities, which produce and sell steam and cooled air; and irrigation systems, which operate water supply systems primarily for irrigation.

Combination utility services. Utilities are classified as combination utilities when they are involved in both the production of electricity and the distribution of natural gas, telecommunications, or some other utility service. They are considered either electric-combined or gas-combined services, depending on which service makes up the majority of their business. Combination utilities usually are located in large metropolitan areas.

Utilities and the services they provide are so vital to everyday life that they are considered “public goods” and are typically heavily regulated. Formerly, utility companies operated as “regulated monopolies,” meaning that in return for having no competition, they were subject to control by public utility commissions that ensured utilities acted in the public interest and regulated the rates they were allowed to charge. However, legislative changes in recent years have established and promoted competition in the utilities industry. The electric utilities industry, for example, is currently restructuring in an effort to promote efficiency, lower costs to customers, and provide users with an increased number of service options.

Many utility companies are municipally owned. For example, of the roughly 2,000 gas distribution companies in the United States, about 1,000 are municipally owned. In general, utilities serving large cities have sufficient numbers of customers to justify the large expenditures necessary for building plants, and are run by private, investor-owned companies. In rural areas, where the small number of customers in need of services would not provide an adequate return for private investors, the State or local government funds the plant construction and operates the utility.

The various segments of the utilities industry vary in the degree to which their workers are involved in production activities, administration and management, or research and development. Industries such as water supply that employ relatively few workers employ more production workers and plant operators. On the other hand, electric utilities and combination utilities generally operate larger plants using very expensive, high technology equipment, and thus employ more professional and technical personnel.

A unique feature of the utilities industry is that urban areas with many inhabitants generally have relatively few utility companies. For instance, there were about 54,000 community water systems in the United States in 2000 serving roughly 264 million people. The 45,900 small water systems served only 26 million people while the 8,100 largest systems served almost 238 million. Alaska, with a 2000 population about 10 percent of that of Massachusetts, had about 3 times more electric generating plants than Massachusetts. These examples show that economies of scale in the utilities industry allow one or two large companies to serve large numbers of customers in metropolitan areas more efficiently than many smaller companies.

Unlike most industries, the utilities industry imports and exports only a small portion of its product. In the natural gas industry, this reflects the fact that the country has a sizable, proven resource base that can be used economically to meet the country’s needs. This is the result of a National policy that utilities should be self-sufficient, without dependence on imports for the basic services our country requires. However, easing trade restrictions, increased pipeline capacity, and shipping natural gas in liquefied form have made importing and exporting natural gas more economical. In 2000, about 16 percent of the natural gas consumed was imported, mostly from Canada. A small portion of natural gas is exported in liquefied form, primarily to Japan.

The hazards of working with electricity, natural gas, treatment chemicals, and wastes can be substantial, but generally are avoided by following rigorous safety procedures. Protective gear such as rubber gloves with long sleeves, nonsparking maintenance equipment, and body suits with breathing devices designed to filter out any harmful fumes are mandatory for work in dangerous environs. Employees also undergo extensive training on working with hazardous materials and utility company safety measures.

In 1999, the electric, gas, and sanitary services industries reported just 6.1 cases of work-related injury or illness per 100 full-time workers, compared with an average of 6.3 cases for all industries, and 9.2 cases for manufacturing industries. Sanitary services, however, had injury and illness rates higher than the average for all industries, with 9.9 cases per 100 full-time workers, reflecting the physically demanding nature of refuse collection and disposal.

Although many establishments are small, almost half of public utility workers are employed in establishments with 250 or more workers (see chart).

Workers in production and installation, maintenance, and repair occupations install and maintain pipelines and powerlines, operate and fix plant machinery, and monitor treatment processes. For example, electrical power-line installers and repairers install and repair cables or wires used in electrical power or distribution systems. They install insulators, wooden poles, and light- or heavy-duty transmission towers. First-line supervisors and managers directly supervise and coordinate the activities of production and repair workers. These supervisors ensure that workers use and maintain equipment and materials properly and efficiently to maximize productivity.

Production occupations include power plant operators, power distributors and dispatchers, and water and liquid waste treatment plant operators. Power plant operators control or operate machinery, such as stream-driven turbine generators, to generate electric power, often using control boards or semi-automatic equipment. Power distributors and dispatchers coordinate, regulate, or distribute electricity or steam in generating stations, over transmission lines to substations, and over electric power lines. Water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operators control the process of treating water or liquid waste, take samples of water for testing, and may perform maintenance of treatment plants.

Industrial machinery mechanics install, repair, and maintain machinery in power generating stations, gas plants, and water treatment plants. They repair and maintain the mechanical components of generators, waterwheels, water-inlet controls, and piping in generating stations; steam boilers, condensers, pumps, compressors, and similar equipment in gas manufacturing plants; and equipment used to process and distribute water for public and industrial uses.

General maintenance and repair workers perform work involving a variety of maintenance skills to keep machines, mechanical equipment, and the structure of an establishment in repair. Generally found in small establishments, these workers have duties that may involve pipefitting, boilermaking, electrical work, carpentry, welding, and installing new equipment.

Office and administrative support occupations account for about one-fifth of the jobs in the utilities industry. Customer service representatives interview applicants for water, gas, and electric service. They talk with customers by phone or in person and receive orders for installation, turn-on, discontinuance, or change in service. General office clerks may do bookkeeping, typing, stenography, office machine operation, and filing. Utilities meter readers read electric, gas, water, or steam consumption meters visually or remotely using radio transmitters and record the volume used by residential and industrial customers. Financial clerks, such as bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, compute, classify, and record numerical data to keep financial records complete. They perform any combination of routine calculating, posting, and verifying duties to obtain primary financial data for use in maintaining accounting records.

Transportation and material-moving occupations include refuse and recyclable material collectors and truck drivers. Refuse and recyclable material collectors collect and dump refuse and recyclable materials from containers into a truck. Truck drivers operate refuse collection trucks that are either self-loading or loaded by refuse collectors.

Managers and administrators in the utilities industry plan, organize, direct, and coordinate management activities. They often are responsible for maintaining an adequate supply of electricity, gas, water, steam, or sanitation service.

Professional and related occupations in this industry include engineers and computer specialists. Engineers develop technologies that allow, for example, utilities to produce and transmit gas and electricity more efficiently and water more cleanly. They also may develop improved methods of landfill or wastewater treatment operations in order to maintain compliance with government regulations. Computer specialists develop computer systems to automate utility processes; provide plant simulators for operator training; and improve operator decision making. Engineering technicians assist engineers in research activities and may conduct some research independently.

High school graduates qualify for most entry-level production jobs. Production workers may start as laborers or in other unskilled jobs and, by going through an apprenticeship program and gaining on-the-job experience, advance into better-paying positions that require greater skills or have greater responsibility. Substantial advancement is possible even within a single occupation. For example, power plant operators may move up through several levels of responsibility until they reach the highest-paying operator jobs. Advancement in production occupations generally requires mastery of advanced skills on the job, usually with some formal training provided by the employer or through additional vocational training at a 2-year technical college. Additional formal education from an outside source is sometimes needed.

Most computer, engineering, and technician jobs require technical education after high school, although opportunities exist for persons with degrees ranging from an associate degree to a doctorate. These workers are usually familiar with company objectives and production methods which, combined with college education, equips them with many of the tools necessary for advancement to management positions. Graduates of 2-year technical institutes usually fill technician positions. Sometimes, graduates of engineering programs will start as technicians until an opportunity to advance into an engineering position arises.

Managerial jobs generally require a 4-year college degree, although a 2-year technical degree may be sufficient in smaller plants. Managers usually can advance into higher-level management jobs without additional formal training outside the workplace. Competition is expected to be keen for management positions, as industry restructuring is forcing utility companies to shed excess layers of management to improve productivity and competitiveness in the new deregulated environment.

Earnings in public utilities are generally higher than earnings in other industries. The hourly earnings for production workers in public utilities averaged $21.47 in 2000, compared with $13.74 in all private industry. This was due in part to more overtime and weekend work—as utility plant operations must be monitored 24 hours a day—which commands higher hourly rates. Earnings in selected occupations in public utilities appear in table 5.

Reorganization of electric and gas utilities has increased competition and provided incentives for improved efficiency. For example, nonutility generators of electricity, such as a major industrial plant operating its own power generators, are permitted to sell their excess electricity to utilities at competitive rates. Also, independent power producers can build electric power generating plants for the sole purpose of selling their power to utilities. These producers generally build gas-turbine generating plants, which have lower Construction and environmental costs, employ fewer workers, and usually can sell electric power more cheaply than the coal-powered steam-turbine generator plants.

In the gas transmission and distribution industry, regulatory changes now allow wholesale buyers to purchase gas at competitive rates from any producer and to use the gas pipeline transmission network to transport the gas. This process also is occurring at the distribution level. These changes have caused an increase in gas and electric utility mergers, workforce reductions, and the redesign and reallocation of job duties in a process that will continue through the projection period.

New and continuing energy policies also provide investment tax credits for research on and development of renewable sources of energy and improving the efficiency of equipment used in electric utilities. As a result, electric utilities will continue to increase the productivity of their plants and workers, resulting in a slowdown in employment opportunities. However, highly trained technical personnel with the education and experience to take advantage of new developments in electric utilities should face good prospects for employment.

In the water supply and sanitary services industries, regulatory changes have had the opposite impact. Regulations in these industries have not been designed to increase competition, but to increase the number of contaminants that must be monitored and treated and to tighten the environmental impact standards of these industries, resulting in increased employment.

Two nonregulatory competing trends affect gas production and distribution utilities. Although natural gas is an increasingly popular choice among homeowners, businesses, and electric utilities, the efficiency of natural gas furnaces has increased dramatically, significantly reducing average home consumption. These energy-conserving technologies will likely continue to minimize the relative use of natural gas by most industries and by individual homes. In addition, utilities in colder climates have begun to automate meter reading and billing procedures. Combined, these developments are projected to result in a decrease in employment in natural gas transmission and distribution services.

Water supply and sanitation services are projected to be the fastest growing segment of public utilities, with employment projected to increase 45 percent from 2000 to 2010. This segment is expected to grow due to an increase in the amount of waste generated per person, growth of the population, increasing disposal requirements for different materials, and a rise in the percentage of refuse that is recycled. Also, newly constructed housing developments are more likely to have community water supplies and wastewater treatment facilities, increasing demand for these services.

About 28,000 new jobs in this industry will be created in transportation and material-moving occupations, such as truck drivers and refuse and recyclable material collectors. Despite automation and other improvements in production technology in this industry, expanding hazardous waste regulations and the increasing number of contaminants that must be monitored are expected to contribute to fast growth in occupations such as hazardous materials removal workers and water and liquid waste treatment plant and system operators.

In general, persons with college training in advanced technology will have the best opportunities in public utilities industries. Computer specialists, including computer systems analysts and computer programmers, are expected to be among the fastest growing occupations in the professional and related occupations group. With emphasis on improving plant automation and productivity, employment of these college-educated workers is projected to grow by 20 percent. Sales and related occupations are expected to increase in number and importance as competition for wholesale customers, who can now buy power from the lowest bidder, increases and utilities begin to rely on their sales staff to expand their customer base. Some office and administrative support workers, such as utilities meter readers and bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks, are among those affected by increasing automation. Technologies including radio-transmitted meter reading and computerized billing procedures are expected to decrease employment.

• American Gas Association, 400 N. Capitol St. NW., Washington, DC 20001. Internet: http://www.aga.org
• Utility Workers Union of America, 815 16th St. NW., Suite 605, Washington, DC 20006.
• American Water Works Association, 6666 West Quincy, Denver, CO 80235.
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, 1125 15th St. NW., Washington, DC 20005.
• American Public Gas Association, 11094 Lee Highway, Suite 102, Fairfax, VA 22030. Internet: http://www.apga.org

Detailed information on many key occupations in the public utilities industry, including the following, may be found in the 2002-03 edition of the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

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