Hydropower · Tennessee

Tennessee Hydropower jobs: 5,802 employed (2024)

Hydropower Jobs in Tennessee (2024)

5,802 Rank #3 of 51 9.99% of U.S.

Tennessee-adjusted median

$69,687
Across 2 tracked hydropower roles, BEA RPP × 0.93.

Hydropower sub-sector breakdown in Tennessee

Traditional hydropower
5,802
Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics
245

Where Tennessee’s clean-energy jobs sit across 8 sectors

SectorJobs (2024)National rank
Energy Efficiency 53,319 #17
Hydropower 5,802 #3
Solar 5,590 #21
Electric Vehicles 5,332 #7
Storage & Grid 1,137 #21
Wind 849 #35
Clean Fuels 253 #22
Nuclear 94 #37

Tennessee vs. the hydropower leader, median, and bottom

1st · California
10,633
3. Tennessee
5,802
25th · New Jersey
321
51st · Hawaii
37

Hydropower roles and pay in Tennessee

Role SOC National median Tennessee-adjusted Job Zone
Hydrologic / Civil Engineer 17-2051.00 $95,890 $88,890 4
Water Treatment Plant Operator (Hydro) 51-8031.00 $54,460 $50,484 3

Employer-reported hiring difficulty in Tennessee

Did not hire
50.8%
Somewhat difficult hiring
26.6%
Very difficult hiring
18.2%
Not at all difficult hiring
4.4%

NAICS industry mix for Tennessee clean-energy jobs

Manufacturing
86,997
Construction
44,586
Trade
22,813
Other Services
22,441
Utilities
19,794
Professional Services
15,934
Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows
6,701
Agriculture and Forestry
390
Mining and Extraction
379

Tennessee’s electric-power generation workforce by fuel type

Traditional hydropower
5,802
Solar
5,590
Natural gas electricity
877
Wind
849
Coal electricity
494
Bioenergy/Combined heat and power
460
Other electricity
261
Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics
245
Geothermal electricity
150
Nuclear electricity
94
Oil and other fossil fuel electricity
79

Full USEER workbook line items for Tennessee

Fuels

Fuels total 7,089
Oil (petroleum and other fossil fuels) 3,831
Other ethanol and non-woody biomass 961
Natural gas fuels 684
Woody biomass 600
Other fuels 413
Other biofuels 253
Corn ethanol 193
Coal fuels 102
Nuclear fuels 54

Electric Power Generation

Electric power generation total 14,902
Traditional hydropower 5,802
Solar 5,590
Natural gas electricity 877
Wind 849
Coal electricity 494
Bioenergy/Combined heat and power 460
Other electricity 261
Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics 245
Geothermal electricity 150
Nuclear electricity 94
Oil and other fossil fuel electricity 79

Transmission, Distribution & Storage

Transmission, distribution, and storage total 36,796
Traditional transmission and distribution 22,787
Smart grid 6,347
Other (including commodity flows) 5,786
Storage 1,137
Other grid modernization 375
Micro grid 364

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency total 53,319
High efficiency HVAC and renewable heating and cooling 18,448
Certified and efficient lighting 11,645
Traditional HVAC with an efficiency component 9,711
Advanced materials 6,818
Other 6,696

Motor Vehicles

Motor vehicle total 107,930
Gasoline and diesel vehicles 84,721
Hybrid electric vehicles 8,143
Battery electric vehicles 5,332
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles 3,701
Motor vehicle commodity flows 3,262
Other vehicles 1,020
Hydrogen/fuel cell vehicles 929
Natural gas vehicles 823

By NAICS Industry

Manufacturing 86,997
Construction 44,586
Trade 22,813
Other Services 22,441
Utilities 19,794
Professional Services 15,934
Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows 6,701
Agriculture and Forestry 390
Mining and Extraction 379

Skill profile for hydropower roles

Top skills

Active Listening3.69
Critical Thinking3.57
Speaking3.57
Reading Comprehension3.50
Complex Problem Solving3.44
Mathematics3.44
Monitoring3.44
Time Management3.38

Knowledge

Mathematics4.05
Engineering and Technology4.05
English Language3.53
Building and Construction3.50
Design3.49
Administration and Management3.48
Public Safety and Security3.36
Physics3.30

Core abilities

Oral Comprehension3.88
Oral Expression3.88
Written Comprehension3.81
Deductive Reasoning3.75
Problem Sensitivity3.69
Near Vision3.69
Inductive Reasoning3.63
Written Expression3.56

Representative tasks for hydropower workers

  • Design energy-efficient or environmentally sound civil structures. (Core)
  • Maintain, repair, and lubricate equipment, using hand tools and power tools. (Core)
  • Manage and direct the construction, operations, or maintenance activities at project site. (Core)
  • Collect and test water and sewage samples, using test equipment and color analysis standards. (Core)
  • Direct and coordinate plant workers engaged in routine operations and maintenance activities. (Core)
  • Clean and maintain tanks, filter beds, and other work areas, using hand tools and power tools. (Core)
  • Record operational data, personnel attendance, or meter and gauge readings on specified forms. (Core)
  • Estimate quantities and cost of materials, equipment, or labor to determine project feasibility. (Core)
  • Design or engineer systems to efficiently dispose of chemical, biological, or other toxic wastes. (Supplemental)
  • Identify environmental risks and develop risk management strategies for civil engineering projects. (Supplemental)
  • Add chemicals, such as ammonia, chlorine, or lime, to disinfect and deodorize water and other liquids. (Core)
  • Develop or implement engineering solutions to clean up industrial accidents or other contaminated sites. (Supplemental)

Software and tools used in hydropower roles

Microsoft Excel 🔥 Microsoft Office software 🔥 Microsoft Outlook 🔥 Microsoft PowerPoint 🔥 Microsoft Word 🔥 Oracle Primavera Enterprise Project Portfolio Management 🔥 Trimble SketchUp Pro 🔥 Microsoft Dynamics 🔥 Procore software 🔥 Adobe Acrobat 🔥 Apache Subversion SVN 🔥 Autodesk AutoCAD 🔥 Autodesk AutoCAD Civil 3D 🔥 Dassault Systemes SolidWorks 🔥 SAP software 🔥 Autodesk Revit 🔥 Microsoft Project 🔥 Shell script 🔥 Microsoft Visual Basic 🔥 ESRI ArcGIS software 🔥 Bentley MicroStation 🔥 Extensible markup language XML 🔥 The MathWorks MATLAB 🔥 C 🔥

Education & training paths into hydropower

IM

Job-Related Professional Certification3.9%
Apprenticeship2.5%

OJ

On-the-Job Training13.3%

PT

On-Site or In-Plant Training14.3%

Required Level of Education

Required Level of Education25.0%

Related Work Experience (Years)

Related Work Experience14.3%