Considering transitioning from MEP consulting to utility

[ElecEng1983]

I'm an electrical production/design engineer who has been working in the MEP consulting industry for nearly 13 years. For a myriad of reasons that I'll be more than happy to divulge if asked, I'm strongly considering leaving the MEP consulting industry and going to work for an electrical utility.

My greatest concerns about starting in an entirely new industry are probably pretty typical. Since my experience is mostly limited to buildings and system voltages below 600V, I would be considered inexperienced from a utility's standpoint - and rightly so. Still, am I going to be taking a massive pay cut? Am I likely to have difficulty adapting to such a radically different industry - assuming that I'm even able to get in?

Has anyone here made a similar jump? If so, can you share your experience? Is there any advice that you can provide?

 

[sam74]

You don't mention if you have a PE or not but that probably wouldn't hurt. I would also look into companies that work for the utilities as a design contractor although you might consider that consulting as well.

I can't tell you for sure what your experience will be like. I was in civil/site consulting for about the same as you were MEP consulting and the recession sucked bad. I applied for a job with a distribution design contractor for an REC who was looking for either a civil or electrical engineer. Very situational I think due to the location in an oil boom area. I had no prior electrical knowledge and was offered a position making as much or more than I could make elsewhere with my PE in civil/site consulting. I was and still am staking new electric distribution lines and developing staking sheets for power line jobs and new services.

The company desires to get into transmission line design in the future but that does require a PE apparently. The rest of the company is a mixture of business, history, or no degrees. I think these guys I work for were looking for a PE so they can advertise engineering services although no license is required to perform the work they do currently.

I don't think many/any universities teach the detailed knowledge used in the utility type jobs as a specialty degree but I could be wrong. I do know that there are several programs taught by independent groups and some universities that cover a lot of those things. There are also a number of bulletins published by the USDA that will walk you through design aspects of many items in distribution and transmission design and are available for free online. It is my understanding that those bulletins were developed for RECs and don't necessarily get too technical but provide general rules of thumb that were previously calculated by an engineer with the thought that most RECs will not have access to an engineer to calc those details for them. I also believe some of those bulletins and the information they contain are used beyond the RECs they were developed for.

Ultimately there are a lot of different areas you could be involved in whether it be the many different types of electric generation plants, transmission design, substation design, and distribution design. I'm sure there are many more areas that I have yet to discover or be exposed to.

 

[concretemasonry]

If can have a PE, it is something that says something whether you sign plans or not. I had a job for 20 years that required me to get my PE, but that was just passing a test since I had the years of qualifying experience. After I got the position, I never had to signed a plan, but was very active in national international associations and writing codes and standards. Without a PE, it may not have been possible.

Dick

Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.

 

[ElecEng1983]

sam74,

I'm an EIT and will be eligible to take the PE exam this October, which I intend to do. I have to ask: what's a REC?

 

[sam74]

REC = Rural Electric Cooperative. For a better definition of utility vs coop see link below

https://www.saveonenergy.com/f-a-q/whats-the-difference-between-a-co-op-and-a-utility/

 

[SlideRuleEra]

ElecEng1983 - I had a career with an electric utility. Agree with sam74's statement that job duties will vary depending on the branch of the utility. He also summed up the four primary areas for EE's very nicely: Generation, Distribution, Transmission and Substation.

Compared to consulting, I expect you will notice at least two differences:

1. More involvement in (technical) planning for a project. Much of the detailed design may be performed by outside consultants whom the utility engineer confers with.

2. Long term involvement in a project. Not only for planning and execution of the project, but possibly multi-year follow to address changing conditions, project upgrades, etc.

As you have been advised, get the PE, but don't expect to use it often. Two reasons for this:

1. By definition, utilities have a close association with the general public. The utility wants to "demonstrate" that they have professional staff. Engineers with PE credentials is one easy way to do this.

2. In many (USA) states, but by no means all, utilities are explicitly excluded from having to have PE documentation on plans / specification for work on their own system.

You mentioned you have reasons for leaving consulting... better tell us what they are (briefly). Working for a utility may not resolve some of those issues.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

http://www.VacuumTubeEra.net

 

[ElecEng1983]

SlideRuleEra,

To put it bluntly, consulting engineering stopped being fun. I hate to exaggerate, but it's kind of sucking the life out of me. I'm tired of the drama that comes from both my clients and coworkers, the long hours, and the demanding architects. I want to go back to doing actual engineering work - not answering E-Mails all day and arguing over project schedules and manpower shortages.

Changing industries feels like the appropriate thing to do.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

Well, one problem will go away... architects. There could be occasions where an architect is called on, but only in a limited way. They certainly won't be in leading a project.

Concerning performing "actual engineering work", that depends on your definition and the specifics of your job description. A mix of in-house and contracted-out engineering work is possible. Probably won't be all one or the other.

Of course there will be coworkers on projects and schedules that won't go away.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

http://www.VacuumTubeEra.net

 

[oldestguy]

Sounds to me like a bad idea. Also, I'd bet the consulting route will pay better in the end and have more real engineering also.

 

[JedClampett]

I had a buddy who went from a design firm to work for a electric power utility. He didn't like it one bit. I'm sure there were a lot of reasons, but one was that the engineers he worked with were clock watchers. It didn't matter if the plant was one fire, they went home at 5:00 sharp. He would be staying, because that's the culture he was used to, and the place would empty around him. He quit after a year to come back to where he was.
I would place them a lot closer to government workers (that's not a total slam) than to production types. More managing budgets and subcontracts than engineering.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

We had few engineers come to the utility from consulting - most of those who did, did not stay. A very few moved from the utility to consulting - they did usually did stay in consulting.

A big factor is which utility you go with. In a low electrical growth area, I won't disagree with OG and JedClampett's comments.

I had the good fortune to work in Generation in an area (think Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head) and at a time (1980's & 90's) when electrical load growth was "off the charts". Also, generating station modernization (e.g. Flue Gas Desulfurisation & Selective Catalytic Reduction) was being introduced on a large scale. Working in that environment is quite different compared to a "traditional" utility. Do your homework to investigate any utility (or other company) you plan to consider.

There may be a middle ground you could investigate. Check out jobs with some of the large infrastructure firms that do the "heavy lifting" design work for utilities (e.g. Black & Veatch, WorleyParsons, Fluor, Sargent & Lundy). We worked with firms like this on large projects. Smaller, but sometimes more critical projects, we did in-house.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

http://www.VacuumTubeEra.net

 

[HamburgerHelper]

Most of what Jed has said has been my experience. Consulting ,depending on the work and who you work for, can feel like a constant three fire alarm. That gets old around the time people quit feeling the need to have to prove themselves by doing xyz. If you value going home at 5:00 and more vacation time, you will probably like working at a utility. The work is similar but paced differently. Though, you'll probably wear more hats in consulting. As far as culture goes, consulting places more emphasis on results.