Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers

AI & job outlook

What today's research says about this occupation's exposure to AI, how AI is actually being used in it, and where employment is headed. These are positions within published studies — measures of exposure and usage, not predictions that this job will disappear.

Exposure to current AI

Each study uses its own scale, so the raw scores are not comparable across rows — the percentile (this job's rank among all U.S. occupations with data) is the comparable figure, and sizes the bars.

OpenAI's exposure study scores tasks three ways: with a language model alone (α 0.0), with simple added tooling (β 0.0), and including AI-powered software (γ 0.0). Higher means more of the job's tasks could be done at least twice as fast — not that they will be automated away.

This job mostly cannot be done remotely (Dingel–Neiman) — its hands-on tasks sit outside what software-based AI reaches.

Job outlook

Independent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment projection for 2024–2034 — a labor-market forecast, not an AI-impact forecast.

“Annual openings” counts new jobs plus replacements for workers who leave the occupation, so it can be large even when growth is modest.

Where this work sits on the global GenAI gradient

The ILO's 2025 global study scores generative-AI exposure on the international ISCO-08 occupation system, not US SOC. Bridged through the published (and approximate, many-to-many) IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 crosswalk, this US occupation corresponds to the international occupation below. Exposure here means how much of the work's tasks today's AI can attempt — task overlap, not automation, adoption, or jobs lost.

Read the whole six-band gradient on the GenAI exposure gradient page. The crosswalk is approximate: a US occupation can map to several international ones, and the ILO scores describe the international occupation, not this exact US role.

Tasks

All 23 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, ordered by importance. Each links to its own page with AI-exposure and observed-use detail.

• Adhere to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas. Core · importance 4.8
• Drive vehicles equipped with tools and materials to job sites. Core · importance 4.8
• Open switches or attach grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs. Core · importance 4.7
• Climb poles or use truck-mounted buckets to access equipment. Core · importance 4.5
• Install, maintain, and repair electrical distribution and transmission systems, including conduits, cables, wires, and related equipment, such as transformers, circuit breakers, and switches. Core · importance 4.5
• Inspect and test power lines and auxiliary equipment to locate and identify problems, using reading and testing instruments. Core · importance 4.5
• Coordinate work assignment preparation and completion with other workers. Core · importance 4.5
• Replace or straighten damaged poles. Core · importance 4.4
• String wire conductors and cables between poles, towers, trenches, pylons, and buildings, setting lines in place and using winches to adjust tension. Core · importance 4.4
• Attach cross-arms, insulators, and auxiliary equipment to poles prior to installing them. Core · importance 4.4
• Dig holes, using augers, and set poles, using cranes and power equipment. Core · importance 4.3
• Travel in trucks, helicopters, and airplanes to inspect lines for freedom from obstruction and adequacy of insulation. Core · importance 4.3
• Identify defective sectionalizing devices, circuit breakers, fuses, voltage regulators, transformers, switches, relays, or wiring, using wiring diagrams and electrical-testing instruments. Core · importance 4.2
• Install watt-hour meters and connect service drops between power lines and consumers' facilities. Core · importance 4.2
• Test conductors, according to electrical diagrams and specifications, to identify corresponding conductors and to prevent incorrect connections. Core · importance 4.1
• Place insulating or fireproofing materials over conductors and joints. Core · importance 4.0
• Splice or solder cables together or to overhead transmission lines, customer service lines, or street light lines, using hand tools, epoxies, or specialized equipment. Core · importance 4.0
• Trim trees that could be hazardous to the functioning of cables or wires. Core · importance 3.9
• Clean, tin, and splice corresponding conductors by twisting ends together or by joining ends with metal clamps and soldering connections. Supplemental · importance 3.8
• Pull up cable by hand from large reels mounted on trucks. Core · importance 3.8
• Lay underground cable directly in trenches, or string it through conduit running through the trenches. Core · importance 3.4
• Cut trenches for laying underground cables, using trenchers and cable plows. Core · importance 3.3
• Cut and peel lead sheathing and insulation from defective or newly installed cables and conduits prior to splicing. Core · importance 3.2

Work activities

• Monitor work areas or procedures to ensure compliance with safety procedures.
• Control power supply connections.
• Climb equipment or structures to access work areas.
• Install insulation in equipment or structures.
• Assemble electrical components, subsystems, or systems.
• Repair electrical circuits or wiring.
• Inspect electrical or electronic systems for defects.
• Drive trucks or other vehicles to or at work sites.
• Confer with coworkers to coordinate work activities.
• Test electrical equipment or systems to ensure proper functioning.
• Run wiring to connect equipment.
• Test electrical circuits or components for proper functioning.
• Align equipment or machinery.
• Install metering equipment.
• Connect electrical components or equipment.
• Assemble mechanical components or machine parts.
• Travel to work sites to perform installation, repair or maintenance work.
• Dig holes or trenches.
• Operate cranes, hoists, or other moving or lifting equipment.
• Cut materials according to specifications or needs.
• Solder parts or connections between parts.
• Lay cables to connect equipment.

Knowledge, skills & abilities

O*NET importance rating, from 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).

Abilities

Knowledge

Essential skills

Transferable skills

Skills in demand

Skills employers ask for in job postings for this occupation (Lightcast), with whether each is a common or specialized skill.

• Deductive Reasoning Common Skill
• Information Ordering Specialized Skill
• Finger Dexterity Common Skill
• Inductive Reasoning Common Skill
• English Language Common Skill
• Active Listening Common Skill
• Visualization Specialized Skill
• Systems Analysis Specialized Skill
• Critical Thinking Common Skill
• Complex Problem Solving Common Skill
• Time Management Common Skill
• Speech Recognition Specialized Skill
• Reading Comprehension Common Skill
• Microsoft Word Common Skill
• Microsoft Outlook Common Skill
• Microsoft Excel Common Skill
• Installation Specialized Skill
• Equipment Maintenance Specialized Skill
• Depth Perception Common Skill
• Active Learning Common Skill
• Mathematics Common Skill
• Social Perceptiveness Common Skill
• Learning Strategies Specialized Skill
• Telecommunications Specialized Skill
• Equipment Selection Specialized Skill
• Writing Common Skill
• Instructing Specialized Skill
• Geography Specialized Skill
• Physics Specialized Skill
• Negotiation Common Skill
• Email Software Specialized Skill
• Psychology Specialized Skill
• Chemistry Specialized Skill
• Biology Specialized Skill
• Foreign Language Common Skill

Tools & technology

Work context

How characteristic each condition is of the job, on O*NET's 1–5 context scale (higher = more present in day-to-day work). Each condition links to how it varies across all occupations.

How to get in

Job zone

Zone 2 — Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed

Education

Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.

Typical entry-level education

High school diploma or equivalent · BLS, the typical path — not a requirement

Related experience

Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.

Preparation level

SVP (Below 6.0) — total schooling plus on-the-job experience.

What to study: Construction Trades . Fields of study crosswalked to this occupation (NCES CIP–SOC), not a requirement.

Education of current workers

Share of people in this occupation at each level of education.

Interests & work styles

The interests and personal qualities O*NET associates with people who do this work.

Career interests (Holland / RIASEC)

Interest areas

Work styles

Wages & employment

U.S. · annual wages (BLS OEWS)

Industries that employ this occupation

Where these workers are employed, by number of jobs (national, BLS OEWS). Pay shown is the occupation's national median, not industry-specific.

Where this work is most concentrated

Industries where this occupation is far more common than in the economy as a whole. The location quotient is how many times more concentrated it is here (a value of 5 means five times its economy-wide share).

Related occupations

Part of the Energy & Natural Resources career cluster.

• Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers · 49-9052.00 Compare →
• Helpers--Electricians · 47-3013.00 Compare →
• Electricians · 47-2111.00 Compare →
• Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Powerhouse, Substation, and Relay · 49-2095.00 Compare →
• Hoist and Winch Operators · 53-7041.00 Compare →
• Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment · 49-2093.00 Compare →
• Signal and Track Switch Repairers · 49-9097.00 Compare →
• Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers · 49-2092.00 Compare →
• Riggers · 49-9096.00 Compare →
• Power Distributors and Dispatchers · 51-8012.00 Compare →
• Pipelayers · 47-2151.00 Compare →
• Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters · 47-3015.00 Compare →

Side-by-side comparisons place two occupations’ pay, preparation, skills, and AI exposure on the same page — same data, same scale, no forecast.

What you can do with this

Options the data surfaces for Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers — not advice or a forecast. Each is a real cross-link you can follow into the evidence.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai Microsoft Research
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic
• AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans academic
• ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025 International Labour Organization
• IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022 Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
• Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation academic
• Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-role-49-9051-00,
  title  = {Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130; AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) Felten, Raj & Seamans; ILO / Gmyrek et al. GenAI exposure gradient 2025; IBS O*NET-SOC ↔ ISCO-08 occupation crosswalk 2022; Frey & Osborne (2013) frey-osborne-automation; Dingel & Neiman (2020) dingel-neiman-workathome. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-9051-00}
}