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Comment by GalenErso | Hacker News Reader

$27 in a HCOL state like California in 2023 is ... not great, even for an entry-level position.

A friend is a journeyman lineman in NorCal and makes ~$300k/year + pension rebuilding PG&E infra. Lives in a lovely rural $800k home. Started his career climbing poles in Illinois, straight out of high school.

Your friend is a massive outlier in the pay distribution of electricians. He's either gaming the overtime system somehow, or has a unique set of specialized skills (or some regulatory arbitrage combo of both).

Have you seen what linemen do? Work with heavy transmission lines dozens or hundreds of feet in the air, at night, in the rain, etc. They earn every penny of whatever they make IMO.

Based on the state of PG&E infra from public records and committed capex/infra spend, I'm more inclined to believe the overtime is warranted due to This Is All Terrible And Will Take Decades To Fix. I'll ask! Where there is chaos, there is usually money to be made.

https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2022/10/safet...

https://theintercept.com/2019/10/11/pge-power-shutdown-calif...

https://www.naturalgasintel.com/pge-bets-big-on-infrastructu...

https://www.pge.com/pge_global/common/pdfs/about-pge/environ...

I have a lineman in the family. The pay is great, the 'hey, there is a storm 4 states away they are sending me to help with, i'll be back home in 2 months' is not so great. But all the overtime you want..

Consensus seems to be that "straight out of high school" is an advantage, and not one all of the people who are interested in the work can partake of.

What other job is open to a non-college graduate and guaranteed to go up to $54 an hour at the 5 year mark?

I know a whole lot of people who will never earn $54 an hour in their lives would love to know the answer to that question.

While the pay is decent, it is hard, physical work.

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