Any Progress Energy engineers out there?

[Ditka]

Hi,

I am currently working for Exelon at a Midwest site as an Engineer and considering relocating / changing jobs to move to Raleigh NC for the weather and family atmosphere / quality of life.

I was wondering what the pay range is for PEE's (Progress Energy Engineers) for Design or Procurement Engineers at a Sr. Engineer level? At Exelon we have pay grades / bands with min and max levels of pay. For instance, Sr. engineering pay scale at Exelon can vary from 75K - 110K. At 110K the next pay grade / salary band begins and that is usually for Engineering supervisors.  I want to change jobs but don't want to go down in salary.

Do PEE's get bonuses every year? If so what are the bonus target ranges based on pay grade / performance? For example at Exelon my bonus target is 15% and can go up to about 20-22% depending on performance (both site and individual).

Do PEE's get yearly raises? If so what is the average? At Exelon we typically get a yearly 3-5% pay raise which also depends on performance.

What about vacation and floating holiday time. I get 3 weeks vacation and 5 floating holiday and 6 sick days.

How do you like working at Progress Energy? Is the work life balance good? Feel free to ask me questions on Exelon and I'll try to answer or find out for you.

Finally how do you like living in NC, Raleigh, Cary, etc...?


Thanks,
Ditka

[jjordan]

Ditka,
I can't tell you what pay rates engineers get. Most of that would or will be negotiated based on your experience, and the companies needs. Harris is a good plant to work. I'll be working their outage starting tomorrow. I'm an HP, but my home plant is Brunswick. I can answer a few questions you asked: Thsi year we all got a 3% raise. We have bonuses too, based on plant and fleet performance. This year my bounus worked out to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 5% of my gross salary, which wasn't a bad thing! Engineers are salaried and I'm an hourly employee. I work at BNP on the ocean. We have 2 BWR's. All the other sites are single PWR's I work way more overtime that the employees at the other sites. We do at least 1 outage a year, and we also tend to have a few more special projects and more overtime in general. Starting employees get 2 weeks of vacation per year, you get 3 after 5 years of service. We get 80 hrs of sick time anually. It can be exceeded with supervisory approval. We have 9 paid holidays, and 1 prefernce holiday that can be taken whenever you choose. If we complete an outage meeting established goals, we may get an addition day off. We can also purchase a week of choice time to use as vacation. Raleigh is nice, hot in the summer,. Southport weather wise is much nicer. It's cooler in the summer, and warmer in the winter! You should like any Progress site, I've worked them all as a shared resource, and enjoy returning everytime to help with their outages. You need to go apply online if you see an opening that interest you. Most everything is negotialble at the engineering level, so good luck. here is the link!   
http://www.progress-energy.com/aboutus/employment/postings/jobs.asp

Hope This Helped!
Thanks,
JJ

[Ditka]

Hi JJ,

Thanks for the info! It's good to hear that you enjoy working at Progress Energy. NC as a whole seems like a great place to live and work. I was in Charlotte for EPRI training about a year ago and the people and weather were great. I like Exelon however my wife and I are looking for a place to settle down for the long haul since we have kids and they are almost reaching school age. We aren't thrilled about the area we currently live in due to the school situation and we would like to live nearer to a big city and quite frankly we are getting tired of shoveling our way through the cold winters!

My main concerns are keeping my same pay (base salary) and getting comparable bonuses every year. My other concern is that I would also like to bring my mom who is in her sixties down with us so she can be with her grand children. I am hoping that Raleigh / Cary / Durham has some sort of public transportation system because my mom likes being independent and active. She currently lives on her own and takes public transportation (she doesn't drive) to and from work (grocery store). So I am hoping that one of those cities either has a decent transportation system or has some grocery stores within walking distance. Of coarse we could and would drive her every day if necessary but she would rather not be depending on us and likes to do things herself.

Anyway. Thanks again for the info. Good luck during the outage. We don't have an outage till September so I have a break for a while. Take care.
Ditka

[Duke Nuker]

Now JJ, don't be trying to talk him into coming down to Southport.  We have just as much to offer here at Harris as you do down on the coast, except the beach, and the bugs, and the tourists (ususally outnumbering the bugs).

JJ is on the money about the pay.  Engineers being salaried are on a different bonus schedule than the hourly employees.  Sometimes your bonus is great, sometimes not, depending on the year the company has had as a whole.  I have not heard any engineer complain about their pay.  Most seem to like their work.  I would not worry about going down in pay.  Depending on where you live now, the cost of living is probably cheaper here in the triangle.  There is decent public transportation here, also depending on the town in which you choose to reside.  It is not comparable to a major city (Chicago or NYC) because things are fairly spread out, but it is useable.

Come on down and have a look, you will probably like what you find, either here or at the beach.

[Neutron234]

If you're going to talk him into going down to Southport, he may as well take a look at GE in Wilmington. When I left BNP a few years back, alot of engineers there were going to GE. I don't know if that is still the case, though.

[number41]

Not exactly an engineer, but I have recently looked at our engineer job postings.  JJ's right about the bonuses, etc.  The salaries I saw ranged from $6500-$8500 per month.  In my (limited) experience, Excelon tends to pay more than a lot of other companies, but in my opinion, they have to because all of their plants are in fairly unattractive locations.

[Ditka]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the honesty. My wife and I are actually trying to go down to NC (Triangle Area) in about a month to check out the area housing, transportation scene etc.... We are looking forward to it!

McLovin you are right on about the unattractive locations. That is one of the reasons why we think it would be great to be in the Triangle area. My wife is a stay at home mom and finally there will be things to do, places to go and nice weather to enjoy while I am at work. I am glad also to hear about the salaries in general. I am willing to potentially make less money (bonus wise) for a happier wife and nicer area.

I haven't seen any Design Engineering positions yet, but I have seen Procurement Engineering positions in neighboring cities. Anyone have any idea if Procurement Engineers pay is on par with Design Engineering?

Also. I am almost scared to ask....What have you heard / know of Duke Power. It must be an interesting dynamic with two power house (no pun intended) companies working in such close proximity to each other.

Again. Thanks for the comments and honesty. Take care

[jjordan]

Hey my ex wife mustave been a Procurement Engineer. Al you had to do was give her a valid credit card!!! Duke is very similar to Progress in the pay arena. We benchmark with each other, and being that the plants are in attractive areas, try to stay a little below the industy average. Charlotte area economy is hurting major league. you can probably find reasonable housing there. Raleigh is doing better, and the Southport Wilmington area is still booming! acording to Money Magazine one of the 5 hottest real estate markets in the US. If you need the extra money choose Southport, We make way more overtime! If you like the beach and water, Southport wins again. there may not be quite as much culture as the big city, but there is a ton of things to do here. We have somewhat reliable mass transit- busses. All major chain stores and restaraunts. Minor leage sports. Good Colleges. There are somewhere slightly over 100,000 population, but that's just Wilmington proper. GE is in the midst of an economic downturn and may be hiring but I think I would go for a little bit more security with a utility! Are you daed set on Raliegh? What's the main reasons. I'm there now, and it's a lot of fun. Nice people, but they are in the midst of the "Great Ice Cream Famin of 2009" We have lots of that at Brunswick!
JJ

[Ditka]

Yeah...I think we are leaning toward the Raleigh area because of all the family oriented activities. I guess I am just going to have to be patient and wait on the right opportunity for now... Thanks. 

[GorillaNuke]

Hi Ditka,

I know this string is older than fossil. However, the wife and I just relocated to the RDU area from Chicago as a matter of fact. We are in a similar decision-making boat as you were when your post originated (ready to sow some seeds here but concerned about the salary). I am an Electrical Engineer who has spent pretty much all of my working life in the nuclear industry. I was just wonder if you were able to find an opportunity with Progress? If so how are you liking your experience with Progress (Harris or Brunswick)?

I welcome feedback from any Progress employees.


Advance Thanks,

GorillaNuke!

[TEX-INSP]

There is a Supervisor of Electrical Maintenace position open at the Harris Nuclear plant outside of Raleigh in New Hill,NC.

Nuclear I&C Controls Engineer opening at Brunswick.

These are current as of today.

Check www.progress-energy.com for job postings.

I work for Progress and so far it has been a great job with an awesome company. Pay and benefits are at or above industry average. I've worked both the Brunswick and Harris outages and they are both good plants. BNP is obvisouly the BWR so you get all the fun stuff that comes along with that. They have an outage every year so that is a plus. Hope this helps.