The Task Exposure Indexv2026.Q3
Occupation · SOC 11-3051.04 · Job Zone 4

AI exposure: Biomass Power Plant Managers

Manage operations at biomass power generation facilities. Direct work activities at plant, including supervision of operations and maintenance staff.

Reading this score

computed

34.0% of this occupation's weighted task load is exposed, which puts Biomass Power Plant Managers at the 58th percentile of 923 occupations. The capability is largely there. Its average task scores 2.2 out of 4 on what a current system can produce, and the frictions that hold other jobs in place are comparatively weak here.

What holds the line here is context. Across this occupation's 19 tasks it averages 1.87 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work depends on knowledge the model cannot hold. Much of this job runs on things that were never written down: what this particular organisation does, what happened last week, what the person across the table actually meant. That context is the barrier, and it erodes as systems are given more access.

The most exposed thing this job does is Evaluate power production or demand trends to identify opportunities for improved operations, at 83.3%. The least is Inspect biomass gasification processes, equipment, and facilities for ways to maximize capacity..., at 6.7%. A gap of 76.7% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.

Within management occupations, this one is less exposed than the median of 41.4% across the group's 56 roles, with 51 scoring higher. Being in an exposed family does not make a particular job exposed, and the reverse holds too.

What would move this score. Of 19 tasks, 9 are currently banded exposed, 1 assisted and 9 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take cheaper ways to verify output, since the cost of checking is currently doing more to hold this work in place than the cost of producing it. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.

Task by task

19 tasks, O*NET 31.0
TaskExposedAssistedUntouchedImportanceBand
Evaluate power production or demand trends to identify opportunities for improved operations.83.3%16.7%0.0%3.60exposed
Prepare reports on biomass plant operations, status, maintenance, and other information.73.3%26.7%0.0%3.54exposed
Compile and record operational data on forms or in log books.73.3%26.7%0.0%3.93exposed
Plan and schedule plant activities, such as wood, waste, or refuse fuel deliveries, ash removal, and regular maintenance.55.6%27.8%16.7%3.82exposed
Prepare and manage biomass plant budgets.55.0%20.0%25.0%3.79exposed
Review logs, datasheets, or reports to ensure adequate production levels and safe production environments or to identify abnormalities with power production equipment or processes.50.0%25.0%25.0%4.14exposed
Manage parts and supply inventories for biomass plants.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.40exposed
Monitor the operating status of biomass plants by observing control system parameters, distributed control systems, switchboard gauges, dials, or other indicators.50.0%25.0%25.0%3.79exposed
Review biomass operations performance specifications to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.35.0%40.0%25.0%4.52assisted
Monitor and operate communications systems, such as mobile radios.30.0%20.0%50.0%3.29exposed
Supervise operations or maintenance employees in the production of power from biomass, such as wood, coal, paper sludge, or other waste or refuse.11.7%13.3%75.0%4.13untouched
Shut down and restart biomass power plants or equipment in emergency situations or for equipment maintenance, repairs, or replacements.11.7%13.3%75.0%4.11untouched
Adjust equipment controls to generate specified amounts of electrical power.11.7%13.3%75.0%3.76untouched
Operate controls to start, stop, or regulate biomass-fueled generators, generator units, boilers, engines, or auxiliary systems.11.7%13.3%75.0%3.56untouched
Supervise biomass plant or substation operations, maintenance, repair, or testing activities.10.0%27.5%62.5%4.12untouched
Manage safety programs at power generation facilities.7.5%17.5%75.0%4.63untouched
Test, maintain, or repair electrical power distribution machinery or equipment, using hand tools, power tools, and testing devices.7.4%9.3%83.3%3.70untouched
Conduct field inspections of biomass plants, stations, or substations to ensure normal and safe operating conditions.6.7%18.3%75.0%3.87untouched
Inspect biomass gasification processes, equipment, and facilities for ways to maximize capacity and minimize operating costs.6.7%18.3%75.0%3.58untouched

Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.

Where the score comes from

judged

Every task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.

DimensionMeanScale
Capability2.180-4
Embodiment1.360-3
Presence1.040-3
Accountability1.170-3
Context1.870-3
Verification cost1.530-3

What this means in practice

Where most of a role's weighted task load is exposed, the work that survives is usually the part of the job nobody wrote into the job description: deciding what should be produced rather than producing it, and being answerable for the result. The tasks lowest on this page are a better guide to where to spend your time than any general advice about the future of work.

Occupations either side of this one

The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.

Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.