Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers
Install or repair cables or wires used in electrical power or distribution systems. May erect poles and light or heavy duty transmission towers.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Troubleshooting
- Monitoring
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Critical Thinking
- Coordination
- Complex Problem Solving
Key knowledge
- Building and Construction
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Public Safety and Security
- Transportation
- Mechanical
- Customer and Personal Service
- Design
What the work involves
- Adhere to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas.
- Open switches or attach grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs.
- Climb poles or use truck-mounted buckets to access equipment.
- Place insulating or fireproofing materials over conductors and joints.
- Install, maintain, and repair electrical distribution and transmission systems, including conduits, cables, wires, and related equipment, such as transformers, circuit breakers, and switches.
- Identify defective sectionalizing devices, circuit breakers, fuses, voltage regulators, transformers, switches, relays, or wiring, using wiring diagrams and electrical-testing instruments.
- Drive vehicles equipped with tools and materials to job sites.
- Coordinate work assignment preparation and completion with other workers.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (50.3% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (39%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 4 years, up to and including 10 years (26.9%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 64% of occupations compared | — |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 61% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 96% of occupations compared | 87% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 64% of occupations compared | — |
| Time pressure | High | Higher on time pressure than 70% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | High | Higher on conflict situations than 76% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 68% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 90% of occupations compared | 67% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: high
- Conflict situations: high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 1.23%
- Contact with others most of the time: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- Constant contact with others: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 30.76%
- Important: 9.26%
- Very important: 21.01%
- Extremely important: 38.98%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0.52%
- Very important: 12.81%
- Extremely important: 86.67%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 1.76%
- Some freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
- A lot of freedom: suppressed by O*NET (low precision)
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 8.73%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.93%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 48.92%
- Every day: 35.41%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 38.23%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.83%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 16.92%
- Every day: 22.02%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 35.9%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 29.96%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 18.52%
- Every day: 15.62%
n = 23, Incumbent 08/2021
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 18.01%
- Fairly serious: 0%
- Serious: 6.1%
- Very serious: 9.33%
- Extremely serious: 66.56%
n = 22, Incumbent 08/2021
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O*NET-SOC 49-9051.00 · SOC 49-9051 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8